General Mei highly praised Xiaoqian, the French are hoping to clarify the facts, Musetti encountered coughing again, and Zhang Shuai boasted about her fitness.

In just three minutes daily, get to know everything about tennis worldwide. Hello tennis fans, today is Thursday, October 9, 2025. Welcome to the news midday report provided by "Tennis Home."

Last night Beijing time, the ATP1000 Shanghai Masters wrapped up the fourth round in the men's singles upper half, finalizing the quarterfinalists. In the highlight night match, former champion and Russian star Medvedev overcame a cramp near the end of the second set, battling for 2 hours and 52 minutes to narrowly defeat American youngster Learner-Chien 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-4, securing his first win against him in three encounters this year. In the quarterfinals, Medvedev will face the 7th seed, Australian young gun Deminal, who defeated Portuguese player Borges 7-5, 6-2.

After a tough three-set battle, Medvedev gave high praise to Learner-Chien, even comparing him to the Big Three, Alcaraz, and Sinner. "I don’t have exact words to describe him, but in my view, he is an outstanding tennis player, and when I say tennis player, I mean all-around. He doesn’t have a powerful serve, which is the most important in modern tennis. Yet at just 19, he plays at an incredible level. He has plenty of time to improve, and I believe he has a bright future. You never know what will happen; tennis is a tough sport. I’m glad I could beat him because besides players like Sinner, Alcaraz, and the Big Three, he might be the toughest opponent I’ve faced."

In another match, 12th seed Canadian Aliassime defeated 8th seed Italian Musetti 6-4, 6-2, leveling their head-to-head at 4-4. Next, FAA will face Frenchman Lindeknesi, who eliminated Czech star Lehecka 6-3, 7-6(5).

At the post-match press conference, Lindeknesi addressed recent comments about his criticism of pollution in Chinese big cities, saying the reporter from L'Équipe took his words out of context and hopes to clarify the facts. "I called the reporter the next day; I was very angry. During the interview, he kept leading me to say things like it’s very humid and hot, which I agreed with; then he said the air pollution must make it worse, and I said maybe. What I meant is that all big cities worldwide have some level of air pollution, whether Paris, London, or New York. Shanghai can’t have zero pollution, just like Paris can’t. The past few days were indeed hot and humid, which was tough for many players, fans, and officials — that’s the truth. But I wasn’t complaining specifically. I’m really furious about how the reporter handled it, very furious!"

Meanwhile, Musetti, who lost, again faced similar "coughing sounds" during yesterday’s match as during the China Open. He complained to the chair umpire, "I know I made a mistake in Beijing; I said the wrong thing, but please say something to them. It happens every point, every single point." It seems some fans are still unhappy with Musetti’s apology!

Let’s turn to the women’s court. Last night Beijing time, the WTA1000 Wuhan Open completed its third day of competition. In the singles second round, Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai performed excellently, defeating Romanian Costea 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, reaching the Wuhan Open last 16 for the first time in seven years and matching her best tournament result. Next, she will face 3rd seed and US top player Gauff, who crushed Japanese qualifier Uchimura 6-1, 6-0.

After the match, in the press conference, Zhang Shuai said that the current version of herself is the best ever, but an even better Zhang Shuai is yet to come, and her fitness is at its strongest. "I do feel as I expected; I think I’m the best version of myself now. I believe my younger self, 10 or 8 years ago, probably wasn’t as good or as strong physically as I am today."

Another Chinese player, Yuan Yue, lost 6-3, 4-6, 3-6 to 7th seed Italian "Little Cannon" Paolini, marking her fourth straight loss to the Italian and missing the last 16.

World No.1 Sabalenka, Russian Samsonova, Alexandrova, Czech Noskova, Siniakova, Kazakh star Rybakina, American Pegula, rising star Jovic, Pole Fletcher, and Danish newcomer Tauson all won their matches and advanced to the third round.

Finally, let’s play a guessing game. The photo below shows a player collapsing to the ground in celebration after a victory. Without hints, can you recognize who he is?

In the previous guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. That’s right, the person in the picture is Chinese young talent Shang Juncheng.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)