Jannik Sinner makes Novak Djokovic wait for 100th career title with victory in Shanghai Masters final
By Matias Grez, CNN
(CNN) — Jannik Sinner clinched his seventh title of the season with a straight sets victory over Novak Djokovic in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
The Italian, who had already secured the year-end world No. 1 spot with his semifinal win over Tomas Machac, defeated Djokovic 7-6 (4) 6-3 to pick up the fourth Masters 1000 title of his career and third of 2024.
Djokovic was bidding to become just the third man in history after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer to win 100 Tour-level titles but was never able to make a dent against Sinner’s blistering serves, with the Italian not facing a single break point in the contest.
Sinner’s seven titles are the most a player has won in a single season since Andy Murray won nine in 2016, according to the ATP.
“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” Sinner said after the match, per the ATP. “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’s victory levels his career head-to-head against Djokovic at 4-4 and the 23-year-old becomes the first player since Rafael Nadal in 2013 to beat the Serb three times in a row, according to tennis.com.
Sunday’s defeat was the first of Djokovic’s career in the final of the Shanghai Masters, having previously held a perfect 4-0 record.
The 37-year-old overcame injury “issues,” as he described them, in both the quarterfinal and semifinal but didn’t appear hampered against Sinner.
In his post-match interview, Djokovic pointed out that Roger Federer was in the stands to huge cheers from the crowd, and said it was the first time he’d played in front of the Swiss.
“I had an added pressure,” he joked.
The Paris Masters starting on October 28 is the last Masters event of the season before the world’s top eight head to Turin, Italy for the ATP Finals in November.
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