Sinner, Medvedev forge quarters duel

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals after both had straight-set victories on Wednesday.

Sinner put some old demons to rest in overcoming American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), while Medvedev took out Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic also progressed to the next round after comfortable wins.

But world No. 3 Alexander Zverev is out after losing to 66th ranked David Goffin 6-4, 7-5.

Shelton, ranked 16, knocked Sinner out at the same stage last year but the Italian looked confident from the start and won in 88 minutes.

The US Open champion pulled ahead in the ninth game of the first set, breaking when Shelton hit long, then dominated the second set tiebreak.

World No. 5 Medvedev and Tsitsipas were meeting for the 14th time.

The Greek started the second set strong, breaking in the first game, but Medvedev broke in the fourth and eighth to claim victory.

Medvedev and Sinner have already met four times in the final stages of tournaments this year.

Sinner beat Medvedev in the semi-finals in Miami, the quarter-finals of the US Open and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian’s hopes in the Last Eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.

“I’m gonna bring the fight,” Medvedev said.

“I could have done much better in the US Open... I didn’t explore my potential enough during this match. So I’m going to try to explore this potential tomorrow,” he said.

Sinner said: “We know each other quite well now, we know exactly what to expect, more or less.”

“Of course, it’s going to be a very tough match, physical match, mental match, and also tactical, so let’s see what’s coming.”

World No. 2 Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in the China Open final a week ago, downed veteran Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-5 for a 12th straight victory.