The Rolex Shanghai Masters reaches its quarterfinal stage with drama befitting one of tennis's most prestigious events. Following a week of brutal conditions that saw several players retire mid-match, a few exciting storylines were written during the round of 16. Novak Djokovic has fought through the huge struggles with the conditions and own health to check into quarterfinals as the highest seed left on the road to his 5th title in Shanghai. Daniil Medvedev delivered another entertaining thrillier with Learner Tien, finally overcoming the sensational American youngster after three hours of battle. Felix Auger Aliassime has seriously joined the fight for the ATP Finals after a crucial win over Lorenzo Musetti. Valentin Vacherot lives a fairytale run, joining the line-up of quarterfinalists as the player ranked in 3rd century of ATP Rankings. Here is the complete preview of quarterfinals including the breakdown of each player's storylines from the eventful week in Shanghai so far.
De Minaur vs. Medvedev
The battles between Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien start to become one of the most entertaining match-ups in the tour, even despite their round of 16 was just third encounter between both. The Russian has finally edged past the youngster, who as always caused him a lot of trouble, not giving up at any point in another thrilling match following their matches in Beijing last week and in Australian Open at start of the season. That was a test of patience for Medvedev from the start. He failed to serve for closure of first set in 10th game and missed three breakpoints a few minutes later. Tien had a chance to clinch this set, having a setpoint on Medvedev's serve in 12th game, but the Russian cleared the danger and snatched the close tiebreak by 8-6.
Second set looked very simillar to their Bejing's tie last week. Medvedev moved up front with early break, having everything in his hand to bring the win home, but dropped down his level which got utilized by resilient Tien to win 5 games in a row. Medvedev forced another tiebreak later on, but this was dominated by a teenager to force a decisive set. Third set was the least dramatic out of all with confident holds by both, however Medvedev was putting more pressure on his opponent and got one and decisive break in 9th game, then finally crossing the finish line with a score 7-6(6) 6-7(1) 6-4 after probably one of the most dramatic matches of the season, including their both previous battles. It was a massive relief victory for the previous world number one who overcame his daemons from previous matches against the young American and prevailed despite committing 11 double faults in compare to 10 aces scored. Despite the lose, Tien proved to have an exceptional fighting spirit which helped him to stay in contention after a few amazing comebacks in course of two recent tournaments played in China.
Alex De Minaur proves being his huge consistency while competing against lower-ranked players. The Aussie made into his 10th quarterfinal in 2025 after three confident straight set victories scored over Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Kamil Majchrzak and Nuno Borges. All his opponents were not given much chances related to pre-match odds and that materialized on court with three no special on-courts stories in those encounters. De Minaur dropped just one service games to Kamil Majchrzak in round of 32. His pressure points stats do also say much about De Minaur's dominance against his opponents in Shanghai. 25-1 against Carabelli, 29-5 against Majchrzak and 34-11 against Nuno Borges. The Portuguese played really competitive first set, but De Minaur cleared 9 out of 11 pressure points, giving no serious chances to the world number 51. That extends De Minaur's record on hard courts to 33-10 in ATP Tour this season. Interestingly, he was a pre-match favorite in all his victorious outings. The only three-times De Minaur on the underdog's position where matches against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - all three lost, including the recent defeat to Sinner in semifinals of ATP 1000 in Beijing.
This will be 11th match between Medvedev and De Minaur with H2H being positive for the Russian by 7-4. De Minaur won their most recent match on clay in Monte Carlo half a year ago, but Medvedev was up in their last match on hard courts in ATP Finals 2024. That will be a strong test for De Minaur who will face a top tier opponent for the first time in this tournament. Medvedev ended his Tien's thriller late at night and spent much energy on that battle in compare to easy job done by De Minaur in all previous matches. However, Medvedev's form is definitely on the rise in China and Wednesday's big win can give him additional boost of confidence.
Auger-Aliassime vs. Rinderknech
The Canadian kept the race to the ATP Finals alive and even made ich very much on, following his comprehensive victory over Lorenzo Musetti. Auger-Aliassime approached the round of 16 match against the Italian who is ranked 8th in ATP Race, trailing 630 points to his Wednesday's opponent. It was a super high stake encounter - Musetti could made a huge step forward qualifying to Turin, Auger Aliassime needed to grab the victory to make his chances not just alive, but elevate them to really possible state. The Canadian made a huge step towards it, being a dominant force during whole the match. He was the first to gain break in 5th game of opening set, coming back from 0-40 down to confirm the break advantage in the following game. It was the only one game of trouble for the Canadian, who confidently marched through the rest of that match. Musetti got broken twice in second set, recording just 52% of first set in that part of a match. That was not enough against the recent US Open semifinalist, who was clutch in key moments, winning 10 out of 11 pressure points on serve and controlling the whole match won by 6-4 6-2 in less than 1.5 hours. Auger-Aliassime is yet to lose a set in Wuhan, showing that his run in Flushing Meadows gave him a huge boost of confidence. He trails 530 points to Musetti in ATP Race now, with a huge chance to reduce the gap even more, being a favorite in next match.
Arthur Rinderknech will be his opponent in quarterfinals. The Frenchman made one of the headlines of this tournament, defeating the world number three Alexander Zverev, coming back from a set down against the favorite in third round. It was his second consecutive victory over the German after their five-setter at Wimbledon in July. Rinderknech followed that huge win with another brilliant performance against top 20 player - Jiri Lehecka. The 30 years-old scored 9 aces and recorded excellent 93% of first serve points, losing just 3 out of 44 played during two sets won by 6-3 7-6(5) without getting broken in whole match. Rinderknech is just 12-14 on hard courts at ATP Tour this year and his eventual victory against Auger-Aliassime would be another big surprise, however recent run of form and serving performance of Rinderknech in Shanghai indicates that Auger-Aliassime can not underestimate his next opponent. They played twice so far, both matches held recently and won by Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian won in straight sets on grass in Mallorca and followed that with a win in Cincinnati, where Rinderknech retired in second set.
Djokovic vs. Bergs
History meets opportunity when Novak Djokovic takes on Zizou Bergs in the second quarterfinal. At 38 years and four months old, Djokovic has already rewritten the record books this week by becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinalist in history, surpassing Roger Federer's previous mark set in this very tournament in 2019.
But age is merely a number compared to the physical ordeal Djokovic has endured to reach this stage. His fourth-round victory over Jaume Munar was nothing short of epic theatre. The Serbian vomited courtside multiple times, collapsed to the floor after losing the second set, and required medical attention for a left ankle injury, all while battling humidity levels exceeding 82%. Yet somehow, impossibly, he found the resolve to dominate the deciding set 6-2. Prior to that, his third-round match against Yannick Hanfmann lasted two hours and 45 minutes, his second-longest best-of-three match of 2025, during which he also struggled with the brutal conditions. Djokovic skipped the mandatory press conference on doctor's advice, instead choosing rest ahead of Thursday's quarterfinal. The question facing Shanghai is whether the 24-time Grand Slam champion has anything left in the tank, or whether his legendary mental fortitude has pushed his 38-year-old body beyond its breaking point.
Across the net stands Zizou Bergs, the 26-year-old Belgian who saved two match points in a thrilling 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 comeback victory over Gabriel Diallo to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. Trailing 6-7 and then 7-8 in the final-set tiebreaker, Bergs produced clutch tennis when it mattered most, ultimately prevailing 10-8 in the breaker after two hours and 49 minutes. The Belgian has defeated three seeded players en route to this stage, including Casper Ruud, Francisco Cerundolo and Diallo, showing he belongs at this level. He came back from a set down against the Norwegian who was very close to take the victory before retiring in third set. Bergs has enjoyed a solid 2025 season, reaching finals in Auckland and Hertogenbosch, compiling a 31-25 win-loss record with 25-16 on hard courts. Bergs possesses the physical tools to trouble opponents, though he faces an entirely different challenge against the most successful player in Masters 1000 history.
The maiden meeting between these two carries enormous implications. Djokovic, a four-time Shanghai champion, stands as the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw and could secure his spot at the ATP Finals with the title. For Bergs, this represents the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to upset one of tennis's all-time greats and reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal.
Rune vs. Vacherot
It's the match-up delivers the David versus Goliath narrative, at least in terms of ranking discrepancy. Holger Rune enters as the 10th seed and heavy favourite, while Valentin Vacherot arrives as the tournament's undisputed biggest sensation, a qualifier ranked 204th who has become the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in Shanghai history. Rune's path to the last eight has been methodical and impressive. The 22-year-old Dane dismantled Sebastian Baez and Ugo Humbert in straight sets before outlasting big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-7*7), 6-3 in a two-and-a-half-hour battle. Against Mpetshi Perricard, Rune demonstrated his elite defensive skills, including the ability to hit a return winner off a 235 kph serve, and crucially created 7 breakpoints against probably a most powerful serve in the tour, converting crucial two of those. That was a serving fest with 16 aces fired by the Frenchman and 9 by Rune. Despite a close contest, Rune secured the victory by gaining an early break after start of third set, never being in danger to slip it away till the end. It's his third quarterfinal of ATP Masters tournaments this season, including the run into final in Indian Wells.
Vacherot's story transcends tennis rankings and statistics. The 26-year-old from Monaco began the week ranked 204th with just six tour-level wins all season and only one career ATP victory entering Shanghai. After surviving two three-set qualifying matches, coming from behind both times against Nishesh Basavareddy and Liam Draxl, few expected what would follow. Vacherot opened with a straight-sets win over Laslo Djere, then stunned 14th seed Alexander Bublik in three sets despite losing the first. When 20th seed Tomas Machac retired in their third-round match, eyebrows remained raised but not yet convinced.
The validation arrived in the fourth round against 27th seed Tallon Griekspoor. Down 4-6 and facing a man fresh off the biggest win of his career over Jannik Sinner, Vacherot refused to fold. He saved six break points to hold for 6-5 in the second set, a game that would have allowed Griekspoor to serve for the match. Instead, Vacherot dominated the second-set tiebreak 7-1 and closed out the third set 6-4, finishing the match near 1 AM local time. The Monegasque was emotional in his post-match interview, nearly in tears as he reflected on sitting out six months in 2024 due to injury.
Vacherot has blasted 59 aces through six matches, averaging nearly 10 per match. His massive serve makes him dangerous in any match, and he's already demonstrated the mental fortitude to win tight matches under pressure. Most remarkably, Vacherot has become the first player from Monaco to reach a tour-level quarterfinal in history, surpassing his half-brother and coach Benjamin Balleret's round of 16 appearance at the 2006 Monte Carlo Masters.
The maiden meeting between Rune and Vacherot promises high drama. Rune holds every statistical advantage: ranking, experience, consistency, and much less on-court effort than Vacherot this week. The Dane's return game should put pressure on Vacherot's serve, while Rune's own serve has been impenetrable throughout Shanghai. Yet Vacherot has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He's already guaranteed a jump to approximately number 130 in the live rankings, with a top 100 debut within reach if he can produce one more miracle.