ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 8, 2025

Daniil Medvedev

Mixed Zone

D. MEDVEDEV/L. Tien

7-6, 6-7, 6-4

Q. Another journey with Learner, you said it on the court just now. Try to put it into words what this journey is like against him.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I don't have the exact words, but in my opinion he's an unbelievable tennis player. When I say "tennis player", I talk about everything together. He doesn't have serve, and serve is the most important in modern game. He doesn't have amazing serve, and without this he manages to play unbelievable at 19 years old. At 19 he has so much time to progress, and in my opinion has big future. You never know what happens, tennis is a tough sport, but I'm happy that I managed to win against him, because probably outside of the big guys like Sinner, Alcaraz, and the big three, maybe the toughest opponent I have faced.

Q. It was a match with many stages. Can you maybe put into words the different stages? Because you were up, you were down, you were struggling physically, mentally. What was the journey like in stages?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: That's how he plays. If I would manage the three matches I played, play when I was on top of my game against him throughout the whole three or five sets, I would probably win the match. But that's what he makes you play. He makes you play one more shot. He makes you run. When you are at the net sometimes you feel like you won the point, and suddenly he makes a passing shot out of nowhere. At 30-Love he fights, you have 30-all again. That's what he does.

I like it in a way. I hate to play against him, but I like the way he fights on the court. It was not easy today like any other match against him.

Q. This is third time you faced him this year. So this is first win, so how do you feel?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it was a very tough match, and he's an unbelievable tennis player, in my opinion. I'm just super happy to continue winning.

Q. Can you talk about the weather today?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Today was fine. As I said last time out, maybe I prefer it would be warmer, then it would be maybe tougher for him, but I'm not sure. I'm happy that I managed to overcome the cramps I had in the second set. I thought I was down, like in Beijing, and I managed to somehow stretch and it was better, so I'm happy to overcome and win.

Q. You seemed to struggle in the end of the second set. How did you adjust yourself in the final set and win this match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I have no idea. I just tried to fight. I did the same in Beijing. I was cramping, and I went to play and I, even to like 4-0, I thought maybe it's going to go away, and it was only getting worse.

Here it went away. Like when the second set finished, the first game I think in the third was really tough. And then I managed to somehow stretch the legs and it was a bit better. So I'm happy to overcome it and to manage to win.

Q. You face de Minaur in the next round. How are you going to prepare for this match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: We're going to run again, so I have to do good recovery sessions. And, yeah, he's a very tough opponent. He's playing very, very good this year. It's going to be interesting for me. I'm playing good now too, so I'm looking forward.

Q. Some talks with your team during the match. How much does this help, tactically, or is it just about emotion?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Zero, zero. It doesn't help. I should be more calm. Learner drives me nuts. He's an unbelievable tennis player. I lost two very strong matches against him, so for sure I was scared to lose again. I'm really happy that I managed to cross the finish line. The match was up-and-down, but I'm very happy that I managed to win.

Q. Does it feel like sweet revenge?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, no. I'm just happy to win. I don't, I don't like the word "revenge", because I would prefer to win all three matches again him. But since I lost the first two, it just feels great to win the third one. So I'm not thinking about revenge or something. Maybe if we play in the final of a slam, then it would feel like revenge. Now it's just a great win.