Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will face each other for the 14th time in their careers when they meet in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Thursday.

Medvedev leads the head-to-head series – and a very interesting one too – with a lead of 7:6. The Russians won their first six meetings, but Sinner won five in a row. After all, they actually took turns winning. Sinner has won three of his four meetings this season, but Medvedev pulled off a five-set upset at Wimbledon before the Italian got back on track with a four-set win at the US Open.

Medvedev is obviously the underdog on Thursday, but he has to like his chances. The fifth seed is a former champion of this Masters 1000 tournament (2019) and is playing well again in Shanghai with losses to Thiago Seyboth Wild, Matteo Arnaldi and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Sinner dominated the fall 2023 swing and is undefeated in Asia so far. The world number one lifted the trophy in Beijing before starting her season in Shanghai with wins over Taro Daniel, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Ben Shelton. However, Sinner was anything but dominant in Beijing and looked rather vulnerable in Shanghai – especially against Etcheverry. The 23-year-old has been put to the test physically and mentally in 2024, so it only makes sense if he isn’t quite at 100 percent for distance running.

So far in this event, Medvedev has complained about the quality of the balls and dealt with a minor shoulder problem (he took a medical timeout after the first set against Tsitsipas). The world number 5 is one of the players who seems to play better when certain factors work against him. This has been the case in Shanghai so far and it could certainly continue like this.

Selection: Medvedev in 3