Alex de Minaur has seen another tantalising opportunity of reaching a Masters final evaporate after running up against Daniil Medvedev’s newly reinforced brick wall in the Shanghai quarterfinals.
Though the Russian had been out on his feet and struggling with cramp in the tough humid conditions in his last-16 win over Learner Tien, he looked more like the man who once made it to world number one ranking as he soaked up everything the Aussie could throw at him in a 6-4 6-4 victory on Friday.
It was frustration again for de Minaur as he looked to nail the 300th tour-level win of his career.
He carved out six break point chances against Medvedev, only to be repelled on each occasion by the indefatigable 29-year-old ‘Octopus’.
Medvedev hasn’t had a great season, struggling in the slams and back down to 18th in the rankings.
But this was more like his old self as the rejuvenated figure crashed 27 winners and came off best in most of the energy-sapping rallies.
“I was super tired. I knew against Alex, like Learner, we were going to get a lot of long points,” said Medvedev, for whom a break of serve in each set proved enough.
“We had a couple in the that first set [of 29 strokes], and I knew it was going to be a long day.
“But I’m happy about the way I played. I was really clutch in important moments. I was hitting the ball great and putting him under pressure at many times. I’m really happy with this level.”
World number 7 de Minaur played pretty well as he tried to move towards making a second Masters final.
But Medvedev, who now holds an 8-4 record against the Aussie, simply served up one of his best matches in 2025 as he homes in on what would be his first tour-level title for more than two years.
That was especially true as he fought against increasingly weariness during the second set, only to come up with a sensational game at 4-4. He hit a couple of thrilling backhand counters to get the decisive break.
In the last-four, the Russian will meet shock semi-finalist, 30-year-old Arthur Rinderknech.
The Frenchman caused another shock by downing 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-4 in the quarters.
Remarkably, Rinderknech will join his cousin in the semis.
His win came 24 hours after Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot, ranked 204th in the world, shocked Danish 10th seed Holger Rune to become the second-lowest ranked player to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final.
Their fairytale run has set the stage for a potential family showdown, though Vacherot has to get past four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic in the last four.
AAP