Medvedev sees off Tsitsipas to reach quarters; Sabalenka suffersearly exit in Wuhan

Daniil Medvedev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, setting up a meeting with Tommy Paul.

Medvedev did not face a single break point in defeating the 28-year-old Greek 6-4, 7-5.

“I felt like I was playing very well today,” said Medvedev, the fifth seed.

“I put a lot of pressure on him in the first set.

“Second set, different story. Very tight one. I’m happy that I managed... to get some good returns, get some good rhythm,” the 30-year-old said.

The Russian broke his opponent’s serve to go up 6-5 in the second set and closed things out in one hour and 24 minutes.

The players were meeting in the singles draw for the 16th time on Tour, with 6th-ranked Medvedev improving his head-to-head record to 11 wins.

Medvedev won the Shanghai tournament in 2019.

His next opponent Paul meanwhile beat Zizou Bergs 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

“I know sometimes it’s hard to back up a big win,” Paul said of the 39th-ranked Belgian, who upset second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

Though Paul said Bergs “raised his level” in the second set, narrowing a 0-4 deficit to trail by just one game, it was the American who triumphed in the end.

Rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar earlier beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 to secure his quarter-final spot.

It was not without incident, though, with Jodar handed a code violation in the second set for swearing at a ball boy in Spanish when asking for a towel.

Jodar will play Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian advanced when fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime retired injured when down 2-5 in the first set.

Ruud, ranked 24th in the world, said his opponent’s trouble appeared to start in the fourth game of the first set.

“It seemed to me that he maybe twisted his knee... it looked like he kind of stumbled a bit with a wrong step,” Ruud told reporters.

Auger-Aliassime needed a medical timeout after the fifth game, starting the next game down 1-4 with white strapping around his left knee.

Meanwhile, a frustrated Aryna Sabalenka suffered a second successive early exit as her bid for a fourth Wuhan Open title was foiled by American world number 31 Ann Li 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in round two on Wednesday.

The top-seeded Sabalenka fell to Nikola Bartunkova in the third round at the China Open last week and squandered a 6-3, 4-2 lead against Li to stumble at her very first hurdle in Wuhan. The Belarusian four-time major winner lost her number one ranking to Elena Rybakina last month and has not won a title since March.

Playing with protective taping around her right knee, Sabalenka was in control of the match until Li swung the momentum in her direction halfway through the second set.

Sabalenka asked for the trainer when she was broken early in the decider and appeared to be struggling with her movement. Still, she was able to wipe a 2-5 deficit, saving nine match points along the way.

Li steadied the ship, though, and finished the job in two hours and 27 minutes on her 10th opportunity, to set up a last-16 clash with Indonesia’s Janice Tjen.

Second-seeded Jessica Pegula, the runner-up in Wuhan last year, was also sent packing.

The American suffered a 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 upset at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko, wasting three match points en route.

Earlier, six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek launched her campaign by triumphing 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Polish battle against lucky loser Magdalena Frech.

Swiatek posted her 40th victory of the season in one hour and 42 minutes and no longer has Sabalenka as a potential roadblock in the quarter-finals.

Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova weathered a three-hour storm to come through 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4) against American qualifier Caty McNally .

Agencies