Daniil Medvedev was our 10/1 pick to win the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters, and the Russian ace delivered in dominant fashion. It was another dominant week from the world number four, as he eased to a 2nd consecutive Masters 1000 title, as well as extend his current winning run to 9 matches.
Daniil Medvedev was in a league of his own this week, and here was his path to his 4th title of the season.
First Round – Bye due to being a top eight seed
Second Round – Daniil Medvedev beat Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-1
Medvedev began the week with a comfortable victory over British ace Cameron Norrie. The Russian ace was extremely dominant throughout the entirety of the match, specifically on serve. The twenty-three-year-old won 100% of the points behind his second serve during the match, while he didn’t afford a single break point opportunity to Norrie. A performance that was far more than enough to reach the next round.
Third Round – Daniil Medvedev beat Vasek Pospisil 7-6 7-5
In what was without a doubt Medvedev’s worst performance of the week, the Russian ace still found a way to win. It was far from convincing from Medvedev, as he found himself a break down early on, while he also afforded Pospisil 9 break point opportunities throughout the match. Medvedev also only won 44% of points behind his second serve, a stark contrast to his opening match where he didn’t lose a single point behind his second serve. Nonetheless, Medvedev has developed the ability to win matches when he’s not at his absolute best, and he did so once again here.
Quarter-Final – Daniil Medvedev beat Fabio Fognini 6-3 7-6
A much improved performance in the quarter-final saw Medvedev get the better of the inform Fabio Fognini in straight-sets. Medvedev was solid throughout the entirety of the match, and he won an impressive 91% of points behind his first serve. The Russian ace also didn’t afford a single break point opportunity to Fognini, which was the second time in his opening three matches that he had not even given his opponent a sniff of a break chance. Another straight-sets victory for Medvedev, and another semi-final appearance for the Russian.
Semi-Final – Daniil Medvedev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 7-5
Daniil Medvedev once again got the better of rival Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, as he extended his record against the Greek ace to 5-0. Medvedev has always matched up well against Tsitsipas, and Saturday’s semi-final proved to be no different. There was very little between the two during the match, but Medvedev was just the more ruthless player. The Russian ace converted 2 of the 3 break points he had in the match, while Tsitsipas could only convert 1 of the 5 break point opportunities he created for himself. An 8th successive straight-sets victory for Medvedev booked his place in a 6th successive final.
Final – Daniil Medvedev beat Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-1
Daniil Medvedev saved his most impressive performance of the week for the final, as he eased to the title against an inform Alexander Zverev. The numbers might suggest it wasn’t his best serving performance of the week, but to ease to such a comprehensive victory in a final, against one of the top players, is extremely impressive. Given Medvedev’s run of eight successive straight-sets victories prior to this final, we also backed Medvedev to win 2-0, and he once again delivered.
In a week where he proved to be far too good for the rest, Daniil Medvedev won a 2nd successive Masters 1000 title. The world number four also moved ahead of Roger Federer in the ATP Race for the season, and as long as he can match Federer’s results for the rest of the year, Medvedev will end the season as the new world number three.
A fantastic week for us here, as our 10/1 pick for the title didn’t let us down!
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