Tsitsipas Rallies Past Fritz in Shanghai

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece beat Taylor Fritz of the United States, the No. 11 seed, 3⁠–⁠6, 7⁠–⁠5, 6⁠–⁠3 in the third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Monday, 12 October (ATP Tour). The match started at 2:30 p.m. in Shanghai, 2:30 a.m. ET, on Stadium Court (ESPN).

The Shanghai Masters is one of the men's tour's Masters 1000 tournaments, the level just below the four Grand Slam events. A seed is a player the organisers rank among the favourites in the draw (ATP Tour).

Tsitsipas lost a nervy first set, in which he struggled to win points on Fritz's serve, according to the ATP (ATP Tour). His attacking game then began to work, and he took the next two sets to win in two hours and 13 minutes (ATP Tour).

The finish was unusual. With Fritz serving at 2⁠–⁠5 in the third set, a ball fell out of the American's pocket on two points in a row, and both points were replayed (ATP Tour). The second time came at 30⁠–⁠40, on a match point, a chance for Tsitsipas to win the match; Tsitsipas hit a forehand wide, and Fritz then called a let on himself, saying the ball had fallen from his pocket before the point (ATP Tour). A let means the point is played again.

Tsitsipas missed three match points in that game but won the next one to close out the match (ATP Tour).

"I was manifesting today's match and trying to put myself in a victorious situation," Tsitsipas said. "I've always had big fights against him. Some of my biggest matches were played facing him on the other side of the court" (ATP Tour). He added: "I had to up my level… Once I started doing that, a lot of doors were open" (ATP Tour).

The win improves Tsitsipas to 5⁠–⁠2 in his career meetings with Fritz (ATP Tour). It was his seventh win this year over a player ranked in the top 20, against nine losses; last year he lost all five such matches (ATP Tour). It was also his 34th win of the season at tour level (ATP Tour).

The ATP said a back injury and uneven form hampered Tsitsipas in 2025. The former world No. 3 ended a 16-month wait for a title by winning in Gstaad, Switzerland, in July (ATP Tour). This is the second time this season he has reached the fourth round of a Masters 1000 event, after Madrid (ATP Tour). He reached the semi-finals in Shanghai in 2019 (ATP Tour).

In Shanghai this year he beat Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium, a qualifier, 6⁠–⁠3, 7⁠–⁠5 and Luciano Darderi of Italy, the No. 18 seed, 6⁠–⁠3, 6⁠–⁠4 before facing Fritz (ATP Tour; ESPN). A qualifier is a player who won matches in a preliminary event to reach the main draw.

He next plays Daniil Medvedev of Russia, the No. 5 seed and the Shanghai champion in 2019 (ATP Tour). Medvedev beat the qualifier Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic 6⁠–⁠2, 6⁠–⁠3 in 74 minutes on Monday (ATP Tour).

Medvedev leads their career meetings 10⁠–⁠5, a rivalry that goes back to 2018, but Tsitsipas won their only match this season, in Doha (ATP Tour). Medvedev is eighth in the race to Turin, the season's points table that decides the eight men who play the ATP Finals, and is trying to return to that event after missing it in 2025 (ATP Tour). ESPN lists the match for Wednesday, 14 October (ESPN).