2024 Shanghai Masters: Jannik Sinner overpowers Novak Djokovic for men's singles title
The World No.1 won his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season with a 7-6, 6-3 triumph over Djokovic on Sunday (13 October).
Tennis
World No.1 Jannik Sinner claimed his career's fourth victory over Novak Djokovic to win the men’s singles title at the 2024 Shanghai Masters on Sunday (13 October).
The Italian denied Djokovic his 100th career ATP title for his fourth triumph over the Serbian ace in eight encounters with a 7-6, 6-3 win.
Sinner took the first set against the flow of play as he found the rub of the green in the tiebreaker. Up to this point, Djokovic maintained the momentum, having an easier time at holding the serve compared to the grind Sinner had to put in to enforce the tiebreak.
Sinner found his groove in the tiebreak as he broke the Olympic champion’s serve for the first point before opening a four-point lead. Djokovic clawed his way back, but unforced errors meant the mountain was too high to climb.
Taking full advantage of the momentum swing, Sinner played with more confidence while Djokovic made more unforced errors in the second set.
Where Djokovic’s serve was rock solid in the first set, he lost some accuracy in the second, giving Sinner a sniff at finding the breakthrough. Sinner pushed Djokovic to deuce on his serve for the first time in the contest in the second game.
Djokovic prevailed but was broken in the fourth with Sinner taking a step closer to sealing the victory over the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
As the match progressed, confidence seemed to drain from Djokovic’s game while Sinner found his mojo.
Sinner, who clinched the ATP Year-End No. 1 honours on Saturday following his semi-final win over Tomas Machac, finished out the match to claim his third Masters 1000 title of 2024. It was the latest in a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old who earned seven titles in 2024, including the Australian Open and US Open crowns.
“It was a very tough match playing Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” Sinner said after the match.
“I am very happy with how I handled the situation. He was serving great in the first set and I couldn’t find a way to break him. I played a very good breaker which gave me the confidence to start well in the second set.”