SHANGHAI — Daniil Medvedev fought back to beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday, the Russian’s first match since being disqualified from the China Open.
Medvedev was defaulted from his semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Beijing for hitting a spectator with a ball and ended the 500-level event with zero ranking points and no prize money.
The former world number one said it was an accident.
Playing five days later in Shanghai, sixth-ranked Medvedev overcame an early wobble to hold off 59th-ranked Struff.
He sent down 21 aces to advance. “When I broke him, I felt like I could win it,” the 30-year-old Medvedev said of a dominant third set.
The court was “different from Beijing”, he told an on-court interviewer according to AFP, adding “it was a bit tough to get used to”.
He faces either Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina or Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina in the next round.
