The semifinals at the Shanghai Masters goes down on Saturday morning.
The pre-match narrative: Novak Djokovic welcomes an unlikely foe in Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot in the semis. After that, Daniil Medvedev looks to advance to his second final of the season, but he’ll need to beat a streaking Arthur Rinderknech to get there.
Check out my top Shanghai Masters predictions for the semifinals.
Shanghai Masters predictions: Semifinal
Best Bet: Djokovic/Vacherot under 21.5 games (-105)
Vacherot entered this event ranked No. 204 and is the second-lowest rank ever to reach a semifinal at a Masters 1000 event.
He’s in unprecedented territory and faces Djokovic with a spot in the final on the line.
- This is only the second ATP event that Vacherot has qualified for this season. He’s played most of his time on the Challenger Tour and holds a 40-22 record.
- He has played seven matches in Shanghai, and five of them have gone all three sets.
- Because of that, Vacherot has played just under 15 hours of tennis in the last two weeks.
- In comparison, Djokovic has been on the court for nine hours and seven minutes.
The Serbian struggled with the conditions in Shanghai for two matches, but he bounced back to grab a clean win over Zizou Bergs in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic is arguably the best to ever do it, and his 562-94 record on hard courts is unmatched. He should be able to get past Vacherot quickly.
Key stat: Even at 38 years old, Djokovic is having an incredible season. He is 35-10 overall and 21-6 on hard courts — including 9-1 in his last 10 matches.
Tennis best bet: Medvedev vs. Rinderknech
Medvedev -1.5 sets (-105): I admittedly faded Medvedev in his quarterfinal match against Alex de Minaur, and he made me look foolish.
In late August, he got a new coach, and it helped him turn a corner. Medvedev has won eight of 10 matches since the change.
He showcased his skill and new guidance, smoking a scorching-hot de Minaur in the semifinal.
His opponent, Rinderknech, has taken out Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Shanghai Masters, which is worth noting.
But I can’t look past his overall weak season. He has a sub-.500 record (30-31) and is 13-14 on this playing surface, even after his five-match winning streak.
When Medvedev’s in form, he’s a legit top-five talent, and he looks to be peaking ahead of this match.
Tennis predictions made at 11:09 a.m. on 10/10/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.