Pospisil is expected to get boost in rankings after a tough match against Medvedev

SHANGHAI — Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev continued his quest to reach a sixth consecutive ATP Tour final after beating Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil, 7-6 (7), 7-5, in their round-of-16 match on Thursday at the Shanghai Masters.

“I start to feel different even if I try to stay the same,” said Medvedev, who added that other players “start to talk to you differently.”

The 248th-ranked Pospisil, from Vancouver, lost his bid to become the third qualifier ever to make the Shanghai quarterfinals.

He’s projected to improve to No. 190 in next week’s rankings.

Pospisil failed to capitalize on five set points in the first set, including two chances in the tiebreaker.

Medvedev’s frustration got the better of him when Pospisil led 4-2, 40-30 in the first set, which led to him smashing his racket repeatedly into the ground at the baseline. “I usually don’t like to do it, to break the rackets, because it’s never beautiful,” Medvedev said. “But it’s true that sometimes it maybe can help to get some emotions out and get also the stress out.”

Third-seeded Medvedev, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open in September, leads the tour this year with 56 victories. He next plays 10th-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy in the quarterfinals.

Fognini beat seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia, 6-3, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer saved five set points in the first set as he scrambled to a 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over 13th-seeded David Goffin and advanced to the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals.

Federer will play fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, John Isner served his 1,000th ace of the season but it wasn’t enough to stop defending champion Novak Djokovic from advancing with a 7-5, 6-3 win.