The Masters case: how Medvedev wins in Shanghai
On Thursday, October 9, two matches with the participation of Russian tennis players took place at the WTA-1000 tournament in Wuhan. Mirra Andreeva, the country's first racket, has already dropped out of the singles, but Ekaterina Alexandrova and Lyudmila Samsonova reached the third round. The opponents for both turned out to be difficult, especially for Samsonova. Lyudmila got to the first racket of the world Arina Sobolenko. Unfortunately, both matches ended in defeats for the Russians. But Daniil Medvedev was pleased, who with great difficulty made it to the quarterfinals of the Masters in Shanghai.
Continued torment
The change of coach is not easy for Medvedev. After switching from Gilles Servard to Thomas Johansson, the former world ranking leader has already played eight matches at three different tournaments, and none of them has yet convinced fans of the renaissance of the Russian tennis player. The ninth match under Johansson, against Lerner Tin in the 1/8 finals of the Masters in Shanghai, did not give answers to questions either.
The 19-year-old American can be called one of the discoveries of the year. In 2025, Tin became an evil genius for Medvedev, because it was the match against him in the second round of the Australian Open that set the tone for Daniil's whole nightmarish year. Last week, Tin cut short the Russian's path to the long-awaited trophy in the dramatic semi-finals of the Beijing tournament. Recall that Medvedev served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, after which he abruptly surrendered — he lost eight games in a row, freaked out and withdrew due to seizures.
It wasn't the final that was at stake right now, but it didn't matter. It was important for Medvedev to drive away all the demons and finally beat Tina, because 0-3 in face-to—face meetings with a promising, but still not very high-status opponent is very painful. Moreover, a year ago in Shanghai, Daniil overcame the barrier of the fourth round and stumbled only in the quarterfinals with Sinner.
Tin is as uncompromising an adventurer as Medvedev, so the audience had the right to expect a spectacle. They got it, although the first six games were predictable and fast — both calmly took their serve. The fun started in the middle of the seventh game, when the tennis players scored 37 shots. Medvedev took it, but Tin did not flinch and took the game.
Medvedev scored the first break point in the set with a score of 4:4, and a triple at once. It was also implemented on the third attempt, but what's the use? Daniel is terrible at managing the chances of taking a set on his serve this year, and this time he missed another one. The key mistake occurred when the score was 30-0 — Medvedev decided to make a shortened shot, although the situation did not require it, and hit the net. The breakdown broke the Russian: he lost all the remaining points in the game, and the score became 5:5.
It became alarming for Medvedev, because such mistakes often affect his condition. Naturally, he constantly communicated emotionally with Johansson, gesticulated and tried to shake himself. It partially worked out — in the long 11th game he had three break points, but in the end he lost. And then he almost gave up the game — Tin didn't make a set shot, and he got it thanks to a double mistake by Medvedev. But Daniel found the serve in time and turned the game into a tie-break.
The decisive game of the set was a masterpiece. The tennis players started with six consecutive mini-breaks, putting on a real show, so the question was who would be able to catch their serve sooner. Medvedev did this by forcing a victory in the first game.
A tough first set down to seven points and Medvedev's local success — we've already seen it somewhere. A week ago, Daniel also started a match with Tin. And even then, the American made a great start in the second game — from 3:0. Now the situation has repeated itself.: three confident games in a row, a brilliant serve and reception game, and a subdued opponent. At one point, Daniel turned to Johansson and said, "I'm done."
But Tina is not called a stylistic copy of the Russian for nothing — he lost all his advantage and with great difficulty reached the tie-break.
And then there was a plot twist that could have been predicted in advance: Medvedev was covered with muscle spasms. And abruptly: he started walking on straight legs already during the 12th game, and before the tie-break, the physiotherapist reappeared on the court. But he had no right to provide assistance, because the ATP regulations prohibit taking a medical break due to seizures.
It was probably the easiest tiebreak of Tina's career — Medvedev walked around the court and shouted at boxing.: "I can't do anything, he's everywhere."
A week ago, Medvedev formally reached the third set, but after four games he realized that there was no chance and refused to participate. However, now everything turned out differently: the physiotherapist brought Daniel to his senses and he ran around.
Medvedev regained his power and almost made a break in the third game. At the same time, Daniel continued to entertain the audience with the theater of facial expressions and gestures, when he asked rhetorical questions to Johansson.
Emotions helped Daniel hold his serve, but he didn't do much at the reception. The key moment came in the ninth game: Tin wavered, allowing Medvedev to come out and serve for the match. Yes, just like a week ago.
Of course, not everything went smoothly this time either, the Russian started the decisive game with a double mistake, but at the right moment he pulled himself together and made the first matchball — a rare display of composure for Medvedev. It seems that he did not expect such a confident outcome from himself, and after the end of this crazy three-hour meeting, he even yelled at the whole of Shanghai.
"I don't want to leave the best city in the world yet," Medvedev wrote on camera after the game, which was surely appreciated by local fans. Their support for Daniil should help him in the quarterfinals, where Australian Alex De Minaur is already waiting for the Russian.
A win-win streak
In Wuhan, Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is fighting to get into the top 10, met with Jessica Pegula. And before this season, they had met at tournaments only twice, exchanging victories, and this year they had already played three matches between themselves before Wuhan. Alexandrova won the only hard court match between them this season in Doha, Pegula took revenge on a specific American clay in Charleston, and Ekaterina was stronger again on the clay in the Stuttgart gym.
The Russian woman also started the match in China well, immediately breaking away — 3:0. She hit sharp, gave good angles of attack — in short, in general, she played her high-quality tennis. The girls reached 5:2 in favor of Alexandrova without any special adventures, but she faltered when serving for the set — alas, this is typical of Ekaterina. Having not earned a single set point, the Russian finished the game with a double mistake. Then there were inaccuracies from the game, and as a result, 5:2 turned into 5:7.
In the second game, Ekaterina rehabilitated herself, but she couldn't win the match. In the decisive set, Alexandrova was able to make an early break (2:1). Unfortunately, what happened next was about the same as at the end of the first set. Alexandrova seemed to be turned off, the attacks flew anywhere but into the court, and double faults rained down. Pegula won four games in a row, and after a break at zero, she won the match serve.
In turn, Lyudmila Samsonova could not impose a fight on the first racket of the world. Arina Sobolenko allowed the Russian to take only five games.
Next, Sobolenko will have another meeting with Elena Rybakina, a native of Moscow, who has been playing for Kazakhstan for almost her entire career. Arina has not lost a single match in Wuhan, becoming the champion here in 2018, 2019 and 2024. From 2020 to 2023, the tournament was not held due to the pandemic.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
