Sinner Denies Djokovic 100, Wins 4th Masters Title At Shanghai

Jannik Sinner continued his incredible 2024 season collected a third Masters on the year winning in Shanghai with a strong 7-6(4), 6-3 over Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic was seeking a 100th career title and first of the season and was 4-0 in Shanghai finals, but the 23-year-old Italian was the too good for the legend. Sinner never faced a break point.

“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” said Sinner. “I’m very happy with how I handled the situation. He was serving great the first set, I couldn’t find a way to break him. I played a really good tie-break which gave me confidence to start off well in the second set.

“It’s tough to tell you a secret about [Djokovic] because he doesn’t have any weaknesses. You have to try and use the small chances that he gives you, but there are not many during the match. He is a legend of our sport, he’s very tough to play against, so I am very happy.”

Sinner becomes the youngest Shanghai champion and now levels his head-to-head with Djokovic at 4-all.

“I think there’s quite a few positives that I can take. First of all I think the level of my tennis was really good this tournament, probably best after Olympic games in terms of how I played, how I performed, how I fought,” Djokovic said.

“I did my best tonight. Under the circumstances I felt maybe not a hundred percent fresh, but at the same time big credit to Jannik for playing the big points better than me and that’s what made the difference.”

Djokovic will now turn his attention to the upcoming money grab in Saudi Arabia, then it’s a mystery.

“I’m playing that, then I’ll see where I play next,” he said.