Shanghai Rolex Masters 2018: Roger Federer Survives Upset Bid in Wednesday Play

Defending Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer survived a scare to overcome Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.

After taking the opening set, Federer was pegged back by his opponent, who had grown into the match. However, in the end, Medvedev was unable to complete the upset, as Federer notched a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

Earlier in the day, third seed Juan Martin del Potro and fourth seed Alexander Zverev came through in straight sets in their respective matches, but they were made to work hard throughout their respective contests.

Here are the scores from the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena and a recap of the action from Shanghai on Wednesday.

Wednesday Selected Results

(1) Roger Federer bt. Daniil Medvedev, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

(3) Juan Martin del Potro bt. Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 7-6(7)

(4) Alexander Zverev bt. Nikoloz Basilashvili, 7-5, 6-4

(7) Kevin Anderson bt. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-3, 6-2

(8) Kei Nishikori bt. Yibing Wu, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3

For the results in full visit the official website. The Thursday schedule will be confirmed later in the day.

Federer Fights Past Medvedev

WANG ZHAO/Getty Images

After an early break, the match looked like it may be a breeze for Federer. To his credit, Medvedev was able to fight back. Despite getting the clash on serve again, he was worn down by the Swiss, who won a clutch game to clinch the set 6-4.

Even after losing the opener, the underdog continued to scrap. Medvedev also showed some class, with this volley enough to earn some applause from Federer:

That appeared to be the catalyst for Medvedev to find another gear. While Federer excelled in the previous set late on, his opponent did so in the second, and the Russian snatched the set with some brilliant play.

The decider was unsurprisingly tight, as the two men were excellent on serve. Eventually, Federer's quality and composure did show as he broke late in the third set and served it out, much to his evident relief.

Meanwhile, after his run to the final at the China Open, Del Potro was able to get off to a winning start against Richard Gasquet, who always poses a big challenge for his opponents.

The Argentina star had to battle, saving two set points in the second.

Per tennis journalist Jose Morgado, he also appeared to be battling a cold when out on court:

Things were slightly more straightforward for Zverev, despite the fact he faced a potentially testing rival in the form of Nikoloz Basilashvili, who sprung a big surprise to win the China Open on Sunday at the expense of Del Potro.

In the main, Zverev was in control, as he was able to secure a break at the end of the opening stanza and then another at the start of the second.

It also was clear just how pumped up the fourth seed was, although there was an occasion when his passion did appear to startle a ball boy, per Sky Sports Tennis:

While Kevin Anderson is also safely through, arguably the best match of the day saw Kei Nishikori recover from a scare against qualifier Yibing Wu after losing the opening set.

However, the Japanese was able to settle into a groove after that initial setback. He served up a bagel for his opponent in the second and didn't look back, dropping just a further three games on his way to victory.