This archive report was first published on 14 October 2019.
On October 13, 2019, Daniil Medvedev won the Shanghai Masters with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 demolition of Alexander Zverev, solidifying his position as one of the top players in men's tennis.
Medvedev's victory marked his sixth final in a row, and he is now chasing a first Grand Slam title next year.
Novak Djokovic has praised Medvedev as a "very complete" player, while Alexander Zverev has described him as having a unique style that makes him the best in men's tennis on current form.
Medvedev's opponent in the final, Zverev, took issue with the "boring" tag, saying that Medvedev's style is not boring to him.
"I actually think the opposite. Daniil is somebody that plays a way that we have never seen before," Zverev said.
Medvedev has been a known quantity to tennis fans for a while, but since this summer, he has stepped up to a whole new level.
He announced himself to the broader sporting public with an agonising five-set defeat to Rafael Nadal in the US Open final in September.
Speaking on Sunday in Shanghai, Medvedev said that "something clicked" in the United States, where his run of six finals on the bounce began in July-August.
But if he knows what it is, he is not saying.
"I maybe started to understand something more about myself, and I'm not really sure what," he said.
Medvedev freely admits that his gangly frame does not give him the raw power that many of his rivals possess -- so he tries to play what he called "smart" instead.
