Sebastian Korda shocks defending champion Daniil Medvedev at Shanghai Masters
American Sebastian Korda defeated an in-form Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 on Sunday to eliminate the defending champion in the Shanghai Masters second round.
Sebastian Korda.The Russian had come into the Shanghai Masters after a runners-up performance at the China Open, where he lost the final to Italian 22-year-old Jannik Sinner.
However, he found a resilient and enthusiastic Korda, with the two providing an entertaining first set which the US Open runner-up eventually lost 10-8 in the tie-break.
The world number 26 then dominated Medvedev in the second set, taking advantage of the missed shots by the Russian and breaking towards a 6-2 victory to take the match.
"I feel awesome, I played an incredible match," said Korda after his win.
"We played a really good tiebreaker, you know, it was up and down from the beginning. I'm happy to be on the winning side of it!"
The 23-year-old Korda recorded his second victory of the season against the Russian following his win against him early this year at the Australian Open.
"It's been a very difficult year for sure," said Korda.
"I had a long pause on my year for three months, especially when I was playing some of the best tennis of my career so far. It was difficult, but it's a long journey and I'm happy with the way I played today. It’s definitely one of the biggest victories in my career for sure."
He will face American counterpart and world number eight Taylor Fritz in the third round later today. Fritz had edged out Yosuke Watanuki 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-4 on Saturday afternoon.
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