"I think those things have resolved themselves over time" - Stefanos Tsitsipas has change of heart over Daniil Medvedev ahead of Shanghai clash

Although both men share a tumultuous history, Stefanos Tsitsipas believes any ill-feelings towards rival Daniil Medvedev are a thing of the past as they prepare to lock horns in the fourth round of the 2024 Shanghai Masters.

Tsitsipas has looked impressive during the ATP Masters 1000 event, as he powered past Alexandre Muller to reach the fourth round. Conversely, Medvedev has looked less confident en route to the fourth round, as the Russian had to rally from a set down to battle past Matteo Arnaldi in the third round.

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Both men have had issues in the past

The duo have had beef dating back to 2018, with Tsitsipas famously calling Medvedev a "bull**** Russian" at the net following one of their early bouts. Medvedev in return told Tsitsipas to "shut your f*** up", and the pair have traded bars ever since.

However, Medvedev recently slammed claims circulating online that he hated the Greek star. Soon after, Tsitsipas admitted he was wrong about the former World No.1, as both men teamed up to represent Team Europe at the 2024 Laver Cup. Their relationship will be put to the test when they face each other in Shanghai on Wednesday.

"I consider him someone that I respect on the tour, much more than I did before," said Tsitsipas following his third round win. "We've had some heated things on the court in the past, but I think those things have resolved themselves over time, and obviously we also had the time to speak about those things and have a common understanding of why these things happen.
“I always want to resolve things like that, I don't want to leave them. It took a while, obviously, a pretty long time, but it's good to kind of get it out of the way, and making sure our tennis brings peace instead of a war.
“It's a war zone when you're out there on the court trying to, obviously, fight your best and obviously try to get the win, but I feel like tennis should unite instead of separate.

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"I think there are a lot of perhaps things that he has brought into the game that are, I would consider, quite unorthodox, because you haven't seen a lot of players in the past, you know, play the way that he does.
“Which is, in fact, after thinking about it, in the past I might have said some mean stuff about his game, but after actually thinking about those things, I think I was completely wrong in that. There's a lot of interesting things in his game that he brings that are very different from other players.”