Tsitsipas Rallies Past Fritz, Faces Medvedev Next

Stefanos Tsitsipas found another gear in Shanghai. The Greek rallied past 11th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to reach the fourth round, the ATP reported.

It was his 34th tour-level win of the season and his seventh Top-20 win of 2026 (7-9). Last year he went 0-5 against that group. The former world No. 3 is playing like someone who remembers how this used to feel.

Comeback, then chaos on match point

Tsitsipas struggled to dent Fritz's serve in the first set, then the free-swinging game clicked. He fought back through two hours and 13 minutes and improved to 5-2 in his Head2Head series against the American, per the ATP.

"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. I had to up my level. Once I started doing that, a lot of doors were open."

The finish was messy. With Fritz serving at 2-5, a ball fell out of Fritz's pocket on consecutive points and both were replayed. On the second, Tsitsipas had match point at 30-40 and sent a forehand wide. Fritz then called a let on himself. Tsitsipas missed three match points in that game before closing it out in the next, per the ATP.

A season that finally turned

After a 2025 season limited by form and a persistent back injury, Tsitsipas ended a 16-month title drought in Gstaad in July. This is his second Masters 1000 fourth-round run of 2026 after Madrid. He reached the Shanghai semifinals back in 2019.

Next is fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2019 Shanghai champion, who beat qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 6-3 in 74 minutes. Medvedev leads their rivalry 10-5, but Tsitsipas won their only meeting this season in Doha, per the ATP.

Turin race heat

Medvedev sits eighth in the Live Race To Turin and is chasing a return to the ATP Finals after missing 2025. Tsitsipas wants the same conversation to reopen around his own name. A deep Shanghai run would help both of them stop looking over their shoulders at the players stacked just outside the cut.

The draw also got friendlier after other Monday shocks. Alcaraz is already out. Fritz is out. Tsitsipas just took advantage of a window that was not there 24 hours ago.

If the Greek can beat Medvedev on this hard court, Shanghai stops being a nice resurgence story and starts looking like a real late-season push.