Daniil Medvedev makes Federer, Nadal and Djokovic claim over US tennis star - The Mirror

Russian Daniil Medvedev finally secured a win over Learner Tien in the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday - his first victory over him in three meetings

Daniil Medvedev has lavished praise on Learner Tien - likening the challenge of playing against him to facing tennis's all-time greats. The Russian clinched a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Tien in the Shanghai Masters round of 16 on Wednesday.

This win over the American marked Medvedev's first triumph in their three encounters, having previously been defeated by him at the Australian Open and Beijing Open this year. The former world No.1 has endured a tough year, winning just one grand slam match in 2025.

However, there is optimism that this hard-earned victory could spark a return to form for Medvedev. The 29-year-old was full of admiration for his vanquished opponent.

The holder of 20 ATP titles, Medvedev equated the task of playing against Tien to that of squaring off against tennis legends Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, as well as current world No. 1 and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

"I don't have the exact words, but in my opinion, he's an impressive tennis player," Medvedev said after defeating Tien.

"When I say 'tennis player,' I mean the whole thing, the whole tennis player.

"He doesn't have a serve, and the serve is the most important thing in modern tennis. He doesn't have an incredible serve, and yet he's capable of playing sensational tennis at just 19 years old.

"Being only 19, he has a lot of time to progress, and that gives him a very bright future. You never know what can happen; tennis is a very tough sport, but I'm happy to have won against him because, probably, beyond the greats like the Big Three, Sinner, and Alcaraz, he's perhaps the toughest opponent I've ever faced. I think he could be world number one in the future."

Medvedev will take on Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals as he bids to secure a semi-final showdown with Arthur Rinderknech.

He would then meet either Djokovic or world No. 204 Valentin Vacherot in the final.

"I have another match ahead of me in which I'm going to run a lot again, so I hope to have good recovery sessions," Medvedev said.

"He's a very tough opponent who's playing very, very good tennis this season.

"It's going to be an interesting challenge, no doubt, but I'm also playing well, so we'll see."