Daniil Medvedev made a comment about Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as he looked ahead to his clash with Rafael Jodar at the 2026 Shanghai Masters.

World No 5 Medvedev will face world No 13 Jodar in the semi-finals at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. It will be the pair’s first encounter.

The 2021 US Open champion and former world No 1 earned a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Tommy Paul in the Shanghai quarter-finals on Friday after Jodar defeated Casper Ruud 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Here is what Medvedev said about his victory over Paul and his showdown with Jodar in his press conference after reaching the semi-finals in Shanghai.

Q. Talking about that second set, you said you pushed him a lot. I wonder, was it a matter of your game or he was just the more excellent player in that set, or did you have anything else going on physically?

MEDVEDEV: No, I feel like it was a very tight set. The first game, I think I saved three break points, and he managed to break me. I went for the second serve, missed it, whatever, it can happen. Then I have a break point. Then I have a break point at 2-1. And then, when it was 4-1 double break, I was like, ‘Okay, you know what, better regroup and get ready for the third set.’ So at this point, you know, if I would break back I would try, but I was just going for it. But I’m happy that in the third set I managed to step up on my serve, be solid, and that was the key.

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Q. You will be against Jodar, a battle of styles. I’m wondering, how do you usually prepare a match against an opponent maybe you don’t know that well? He’s playing very close to the line, it’s not easy to gain court against him, so I’m wondering if you will study and consider maybe changing your tennis to adapt to him, or you just play him and that’s it?

MEDVEDEV: The thing is that, it’s my opinion, I know when you look at Roger [Federer] playing Novak [Djokovic], or Novak playing Rafa [Nadal], for sure they adapt a bit from game to game because they are so, like, let’s say, head-to-head. But if you look at Novak throughout the year, he plays the same tennis. Try to make a good serve, go for the forehand, some good rallies, and try to break one time. So, I feel like it’s a fast court, so it always comes down to trying to break your opponent, be strong on the serve, and whoever is on other side, try to hit some aces. But, of course, during the match we’re going to see each other how we play. I’m expecting a tough match, I’m going to try to play my best.