Daniil Medvedev put more first serves into play after the opening set and protected his service games to complete a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The turnaround carried the fifth seed into the third round, where qualifier Dalibor Svrcina is his confirmed next opponent.
Medvedev’s opening singles match after a first-round bye lasted one hour, 52 minutes and one second. This was a round-of-64 contest at the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event. His serving figures improved after the opening set, and he held every service game in the final two sets.
The result extended Medvedev’s head-to-head advantage over Struff to 10-2. Their opening set had left the fifth seed behind despite a productive first delivery, giving his next two sets a clear task: draw level and then complete the comeback.
More first serves, fewer openings
The clearest change was frequency. Medvedev landed 13 first serves across 27 service points in the opening set, or 48 per cent. That rose to 19 of 29 in the second set, approximately 66 per cent, and stayed at 17 of 26, approximately 65 per cent, in the decider. Those figures come from dividing successful first deliveries by total service points in each set.
The increase in first-serve frequency accompanied a nearly unchanged first-serve winning rate between the first two sets: 11 of 13 points versus 16 of 19. More of Medvedev’s service points were being played behind a first delivery, while its success rate stayed almost identical.
Medvedev won only five of 14 second-serve points in the opening set and committed three double faults. He was broken twice across his five service games.
Medvedev saved all three break points he faced in the second set. He faced none in the third, while winning 16 of 17 first-serve points.
His ace output reinforced that progression: four in the opener, 11 in the second set and six in the third, for 21 overall. Double faults fell to one in each of the final two sets. Medvedev broke Struff once in each set.
Struff’s own first serve was particularly effective in the opening set: he won 13 of 14 points behind it. His corresponding figures fell to 14 of 17 in the second set and 10 of 13 in the third. Medvedev therefore won just one point against a first serve in the opener, then three in each of the next two sets. Struff also faced four break points in the second set, saving three, compared with a single opportunity faced in each of the other sets. Those figures add a return-game perspective to the change in Medvedev’s service results.
Medvedev’s second-serve points won also improved after the opener, reaching six of 10 in the second set and five of nine in the third. Across the complete match he won 43 of 49 first-serve points, compared with 16 of 33 behind second serves. The contrast remains significant even after the later improvement, showing how different the outcomes were when he needed another delivery.
Struff finished with 37 of 44 first-serve points won, compared with 13 of 37 behind his second delivery. His higher success rate behind the first serve remained evident across the full contest, even as his set-level figures and the score changed.
Svrcina awaits in the last 32
Medvedev’s confirmed third-round opponent is qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, who defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and 28th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Medvedev reaches their last-32 meeting after a bye and one played victory, while Svrcina has completed two main-draw wins.
For Medvedev, the advance adds to an established hard-court season. Shanghai’s organiser credited him with a Tour-leading 31 wins on the surface as of Saturday’s result, alongside 2026 titles in Brisbane, Dubai and Hangzhou, the latter won in September. Medvedev is the 2019 Shanghai champion. A victory in his next match would put him into the last 16.
