(Shanghai) Russian Daniil Medvedev, 5e world, overthrew the Italian Matteo Arnaldi (N.36) in three sets 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 Sunday at 3e round of the Shanghai Masters 1000.
The former world No.1, who has not won a title this season, will play his round of 16 against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or the French Alexandre Müller.
In the first set, after breaking from the start, the Russian then lost his serve twice, leaving the Italian in the lead.
Medvedev, 28, received two unsportsmanlike fouls and a penalty point after an argument with the referee, but he managed to turn the tide in the following rounds against the 23-year-old Italian against whom he remains undefeated in four matches.
After two first match points valiantly saved by Arnaldi, the Russian concluded the game in 2 hours 44 minutes on the third, with a winning service.
“I felt like in the first set I was probably the better player,” Medvedev commented. “The other two sets were closer. Maybe he even had the advantage, but that’s why tennis is crazy. You can win when you don’t expect it and you can lose when you expect to win.”
Medvedev then, again, criticized the bullets which he said “basically favor people who can generate power from ‘dead’ bullets.”
According to him, this ball configuration “gives an additional advantage” to Jannik Sinnner and Carlos Alcaraz, “who are already the best players in the world and who would be even with other balls”.
“I train a lot to acquire this power that I never had since I was very young, because of my body type,” he added.