Jannik Sinner continued his sensational 2024 season by beating Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday. The world No.1 Italian registered a statement 7-6, 6-3 win to deny the Serbian legend his 100th ATP singles title win and the first of the 2024 season.
After a thrilling opening set, Sinner displayed his growing superiority over the 24-time Grand Slam winner in the second set at the packed Qi Zhong Tennis Centre. Sinner recorded his seventh men's singles title of the year and became the first player to win seven or more titles in a single season since Andy Murray's nine title wins in the 2016 season.
Sinner also equalled Rafael Nadal's unique head-to-head feat against Djokovic to further prove his dominance on hard court. Sinner became the first player since Nadal's heroics in 2013 to beat Djokovic in three successive meetings. Apart from the retiring Nadal, no player has dominated Djokovic on any court in recent years and now Sinner's run hints at the beginning of the end for the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist.
“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” Sinner said in the post-match presentation. “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 defeated Djokovic in the Davis Cup finals last year and then at the Australian Open semi-finals in four sets this year. Now Sinner and Djokovic share four wins against each other in the men's singles with the former avenging his 2023 ATP finals loss today.
