Medvedev impressed by Tien: "He doesn't have a good serve, but he plays incredibly well"

In good form these past few days, Daniil Medvedev had to work hard to beat Learner Tien in Shanghai. Impressed by the young American's maturity, the Russian delivered a speech filled with admiration and honesty.

Daniil Medvedev is back in business during this Asian tour. A semi-finalist in Beijing, the Russian has now qualified for the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters 1000, getting his revenge on Learner Tien after 2 hours and 54 minutes (7-6, 6-7, 6-4).

Interviewed by TennisTV on the court after his victory, the world number 18 was full of praise for the young American:

"He's an incredible player because he doesn't have a good serve, and the serve is important in tennis. And without that serve, he's world number 30 at 19 years old and keeps climbing. He's an excellent tennis player, he has a good feel for the game.

Many players now are content to hit the ball hard and stay in the match thanks to their serve. He doesn't have that weapon and manages to play very well without it. [...]

I thought I was going to lose this match because I had cramps again. So I'm super happy to beat him."

In the quarter-finals, Medvedev will face Alex de Minaur, a player against whom he leads with 7 wins to 4 in their head-to-head matchups.