Stefanos Tsitsipas is finding his winning formula again in 2026, and the Greek continued his resurgence on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters by rallying past 11th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
After a nervy opening set in which Tsitsipas struggled to make inroads on Fritz’s serve, the Greek’s free-flowing attacking game began to click and was on full display as he fought back to secure his 34th tour-level win of the season. The victory marks his seventh Top-20 win of 2026 (7-9), having failed to record one last year (0-5).
“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. Some of my biggest matches were played facing him on the other side of the court. I had to up my level… Once I started doing that, a lot of doors were open and I was really able to unleash my biggest potential out there.”
In a dramatic ending, with Fritz serving at 2-5, the ball fell out of the American’s pocket on consecutive points and both were replayed. The second incident came at 30/40, when Tsitsipas had match point but sent a forehand wide. Fritz then called a let on himself, acknowledging that the ball had fallen from his pocket before the point.
Although Tsitsipas missed three match points in that game, he responded emphatically in the next to seal his two-hour, 13-minute victory and improve to 5-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Fritz.
After a 2025 season hampered by inconsistent form and a persistent back injury, Tsitsipas appears to have rediscovered his best tennis in 2026. The former World No. 3 ended his 16-month title drought with victory in Gstaad in July and has now reached the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time this season, having previously done so in Madrid.
Tsitsipas, who reached the semi-finals in Shanghai in 2019, will next face fifth seed and 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev, who eased past qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 6-3 in just 74 minutes. Medvedev leads Tsitsipas 10-5 in their long-running Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry, which stretches back to 2018, but the Greek won their only meeting this season in Doha.
Medvedev, who is also enjoying a resurgent 2026 season, is eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and aiming for a return to the Nitto ATP Finals after missing out in 2025.
