“I don’t want to leave [the] best city in the world yet,” Daniil Medvedev declared to the Rolex Shanghai Masters’ camera lens on Wednesday.
🖥️📲The Match in 15 Minutes: Daniil Medvedev def. Learner Tien, Shanghai 4R
The former world No. 1 isn’t going anywhere after navigating a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-4 tussle with Learner Tien, scoring his first win over the American in three tries to reach his third Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season.
Medvedev lost his first two meetings to Tien this season, including a five-set thriller in the second round of the Australian Open. He nearly lost a third when he was struck down by cramps at the start of the second-set tiebreaker, but recovered in time to close out his teenaged nemesis in two hours and 52 minutes on Stadium Court.
“Learner drives me nuts,” Medvedev said after the match. “He’s an unbelievable tennis player. I lost two very strong matches against him, so for sure I was scared to lose again. I’m really happy that I managed to cross the finish line. The match was up-and-down, but I’m very happy that I managed to win.”
The 2021 US Open champion has been in a soul-searching mode since losing in the first round of his last three major outings, the nadir coming in a five-set flameout to Benjamin Bonzi in Flushing Meadows.
