Stefanos faced Carlitos at the French Open for the second year in a row and failed to win a single set, giving the feeling of being at the mercy of his opponent. Tsitsipas' season cannot be considered fully satisfactory ( despite his triumph in Monte Carlo ), nor can Medvedev's, who has yet to win a title this year.

Tsitsipas and Medvedev famously started their rivalry with a spiky encounter at the Miami Open more than six years ago. It ended with Medvedev claiming his opponent calling him a “bulls*** Russian” as he told the world No. 12 to “shut your f*** up”.

The 12th-ranked Tsitsipas and the Russian former U.S. Open champion will meet for a 14th time, and first in nearly a year. The fifth-ranked Medvedev has a commanding 9-4 lead in the head-to-head series, which has spilled over into a war of words off the court in the past.

Both Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas served sweet revenge at the Shanghai Masters on Friday, vanquishing old foes in straight sets as they progressed through to the third round.