Daniil Medvedev hits milestone with 50th Top 10 win in Shanghai

It took grit, patience, and the kind of stubborn precision that has long defined Daniil Medvedev’s game.

Under the lights in Shanghai, the former World No. 1 produced another reminder of why he remains one of the toughest puzzles in tennis, grinding past Alex de Minaur 6–4, 6–4 to reach the semifinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. And with it, he secured the 50th Top 10 victory of his career.

The match was exactly the kind of bruising baseline duel both men are known for. More than 30 rallies stretched beyond nine shots, a physical tug-of-war where margins were measured in inches and patience in breaths.

Medvedev’s rhythm, at first tentative, grew sharper as the contest wore on. He hit 11 more winners than De Minaur (27 to 16) and committed two fewer unforced errors, a small but telling statistical reflection of his superior consistency.

“I was super tired and I knew against Alex, like against Learner, we would have long points,” Medvedev admitted afterward. “I think in the third or fourth game we had a couple and I thought it was going to be a long day, but I am happy with the way I played. I was really clutch in the important moments and hitting the ball great and putting him under pressure. The second set was tight but I found the best at the end. I am really happy with the level.”

That level — relentless, tactical, suffocating — has become his trademark.

Medvedev’s game doesn’t sparkle in highlights; it grinds opponents down. Against De Minaur, he won 15 of 16 first-serve points in the second set, closing the door on any hopes of a late surge from the Australian.

This victory also carried deeper resonance. It was his 50th Top 10 win, a milestone that underlines his remarkable consistency over the past five years. Only Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have accumulated more at that level since 2018.

It also marks his second Masters 1000 semifinal of the season, after Indian Wells earlier this year. And though he’s yet to lift a title since Rome in May 2023, the signs in Shanghai have been promising.

Now, as he prepares to face France’s Arthur Rinderknech in the last four, Medvedev finds himself within reach of another Shanghai final. It’s a stage he conquered in 2019 during one of the most dominant runs of his career.

It’s fitting that six years later, he’s back on the same hard courts, chasing title number 21 and a reminder that his reign on this surface isn’t close to over.