“I Hope I Can Break This Thing”: Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner Watch Out as Daniil Medvedev Vows To Defend Shanghai Masters

Daniil Medvedev upped his stronghold at the No.3 position in the ATP rankings after making the final of the US Open 2023. The Russian star has won all his 20 titles in 20 different cities and incredibly, has never successfully defended a title in his career. However, the 27-year-old is ready to break that duck at the upcoming Shanghai Masters.

The man who is considered Novak Djokovic’s successor as tennis’ hard court specialist, Daniil Medvedev won the Shanghai Masters in 2019, the last time it was held before the Covid-19 pandemic. Medvedev will go in as one of the favorites for the title alongside Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Although Medvedev lost the China Open final on Thursday to Sinner, he is still confident of defending his title in Shanghai.

Daniil Medvedev confident of defending his title in Shanghai

Medvedev suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Jannik Sinner in the China Open final. This was the first time Sinner got past Medvedev in his career. The Italian won in straight sets 7-6, 7-6.

Daniil Medvedev is set to play four more tournaments this year. While he has won all of those atleast once, he has failed to defend any so far. The Russian agreed in the post-match press conference that Shanghai is a great opportunity for him to begin a trend that could power him onto the path of tennis greatness.

“I hope, because this year I play four more tournaments, and all of them I won, so I hope I can break this thing, win one of them. I would be very happy. Even again today, the match was good, was good tennis. Had to do better if I wanted to win, but it was good tennis. I want to continue playing good this season. Going to Shanghai to show my best and hopefully I can do it.”

Medvedev admitted that he was disappointed after losing the final to Sinner on tie-breaks and added that he will work on improving in that department. The Russian felt he could have done better but vowed to learn from his mistakes.

“Came down to the tiebreaks where he was much better than me, 2 and 2, I should have done better. That’s unfortunately how tennis can be. I hope that next time if I have to play two tiebreaks in the final I can win it. I need to try to do better next time when I have a tiebreak in the final.”

Medvedev’s draw at the Shanghai Masters

The Shanghai Masters has always attracted top players and although this is the first time the tournament is being played in four years, the draw is filled with superstars. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev all feature in the tournament, making it exciting for the fans.

Daniil Medvedev won the 2019 Shanghai Masters by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final, 6-4, 6-1. The World No.3 did not lose a single set throughout the tournament. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, was defeated in the quarterfinals by Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The draw for the Shanghai Masters 2023 sees Medvedev drawn in the same half as Jannik Sinner. Meanwhile, the top seed Carlos Alcaraz is drawn in the other half. Daniil Medvedev will have to potentially beat both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on his way to defend the title.

While Medvedev possess the skills to defend his title, Alcaraz and Sinner will be keen to ruin his parade. The Russian will have to perform at his best to defend a title for the first time in his career.