Shanghai
Medvedev says ‘shoo’ to déjà vu in Shanghai R4 win vs. Tien
Former World No. 1 wards off cramps, earns first win in three makes an attempt in opposition to lefty
October 08, 2025
Hector Retamal/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Daniil Medvedev overcomes Learner Tien on Wednesday in Shanghai.
By Andy West
Daniil Medvedev dug deep to keep away from a repeat disappointment in opposition to Learner Tien on the exhausting courts of China with a dramatic Wednesday-night win on the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The 29-year-old recovered from a bout of cramp late within the second set to beat #NextGenATP American Tien 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-4 in an engrossing encounter on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion. Simply eight days after Medvedev was pressured to retire from the deciding set of the pair’s semi-final in Beijing attributable to cramp, the previous No. 1 within the PIF ATP Rankings was this time capable of keep at bay his bodily struggles and rouse a late cost to victory.
Meddy’s Second! 👏@DaniilMedwed outlasts Tien (7-6 6-7 6-4) in an EPIC encounter to advance into the Shanghai quarter-finals@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasterspic.twitter.com/Ah3jbLrNUs
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 8, 2025
“I believe the hardest half was that we performed two occasions [before], and in my view he’s an unbelievable participant, as a result of he doesn’t have an awesome serve and serve is so essential in tennis,” mentioned Medvedev. “With out the serve, he’s 19 years previous and 30-something on the planet and solely going up. In my view he’s such a superb tennis participant.
“He feels the sport so nicely. There are such a lot of guys proper now that simply hit robust with each ball they’ve, they usually have a tremendous serve which permits them to remain within the tennis match. He doesn’t have it, and he manages to play so good with out it. For me to beat him… I believed I used to be going to lose. I used to be cramping once more and I’m simply tremendous comfortable to handle to do it.”
In a topsy-turvy two-hour, 53-minute encounter, Medvedev did not serve out the primary set at 5-4 earlier than prevailing in a tie-break, after which carved out a 3-0 lead within the second. But Tien roared again and gained the second set in a tie-break throughout which Medvedev was almost fully immobilised as a result of cramps in his proper leg.
The 2019 Shanghai champion Medvedev appeared out of rivalry at that time, however his physique loosened after the changeover between units and he produced some usually sturdy tennis into the decider. Regardless of commonly chuntering to himself in a pissed off trend all through, Medvedev decisively broke serve within the ninth sport earlier than serving out to earn his first victory in three Lexus ATP Head2Head conferences with the 19-year-old Tien.
All three of Medvedev and Tien’s conferences have confirmed dramatic. On the Australian Open, Tien prevailed in a five-set thriller that ended simply earlier than 3 a.m. native time, whereas the pair’s Beijing and Shanghai clashes have been dominated by Medvedev’s battles together with his physique.
Now into his third Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season (Indian Wells, Madrid), Medvedev will subsequent face seventh seed Alex de Minaur, who earlier defeated Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2 to guide his spot within the final eight.
