Daniil Medvedev overcomes Struff challenge to march into round 3 at Shanghai Masters

Shanghai, Oct 10 (IANS) Daniil Medvedev rallied back from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second-round clash at the Shanghai Masters to march into the third round here on Saturday.

Playing his first match since he defaulted in the China Open for hitting a spectator during his semifinal against Novak Djokovic, Medvedev defeated Struff in a one-hour-and-52-minute battle for his 10th win over the German.

Medvedev now has 31 wins on the hard courts in 2026, along with his Dubai, Brisbane and Hangzhou titles on the surface. He is a 2019 champion in Shanghai and will be up against either Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Dalibor Svrcina in the round of 32.

Medvedev is currently eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is aiming to qualify for the year-end event for the seventh time, having missed the cut last year.

Medvedev banked on his strong serve in the match. He sent down 21 aces and won 88% of his first-serve points. The Russian broke the German thrice in the match and was broken twice but also saved four break points.

Medvedev had recently apologised for hitting a spectator near the eye during his semifinal against Djokovic, following which he was defaulted and Djokovic made it to the final.

Medvedev was trailing 5-7, 3-5 and was 15-15 in the ninth game of the set when he instinctively hit the ball towards the crowd after it bounced back to him from the wall. The ball hit a fan around the left eye, after which he was defaulted, and Djokovic earned a walkover.

“I feel terribly sorry for him actually, and I just hope he’s okay,” Medvedev had told reporters after the incident. “That’s the most important. The rest, we move on. I just really care about him right now. Hopefully I can meet him and make up for it somehow.”

–IANS

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