World No. 1 Jannik Sinner last night defeated 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters, while world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka survived Zheng Qinwen to win the Wuhan Open.
Sinner took a crucial break in the fourth game of the second set to defeat the Serb in 1 hour, 37 minutes and deny him a 100th career singles title.
Djokovic had been hoping to become only the third man to win 100 singles titles on the tour in the professional era after Jimmy Connors (109) and rival Roger Federer (103), who was watching on from the stands alongside four-times Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“He was just too good today, too strong, too fast,” Djokovic said after the match.
Sinner saluted his opponent as a “legend” who kept playing “incredible tennis ... year after year.”
“There are legends everywhere; I just try to keep up a little bit,” the 23-year-old joked, in a nod to former Djokovic rival Federer.
In front of a packed crowd at the Qi Zhong Stadium, Sinner came out on top in a tiebreak in an enthralling opening set, before taking the one-sided second set to become the youngest-ever champion in Shanghai.
“He was serving great the first set, I really couldn’t find a way to break him,” Sinner said.
“Then I played a very good tiebreaker in the first set, which gave me the confidence to start off well in the second set. I’m obviously very happy about my performance throughout this whole tournament. It’s a very special one.”
US Open and Australian Open champion Sinner, who leveled his head-to-head record against Djokovic at 4-4, has won seven ATP titles this year and ensured the year-end No. 1 ranking last week.
Sinner has won his last three matches against Djokovic and became the first player to have not faced a single breakpoint in back-to-back matches against the 37-year-old.
Asked if he had found the key to unlocking Djokovic’s game, Sinner said: “It’s tough to tell you a secret because he doesn’t have any weaknesses. You just have to try to use the really small amount of chances he gives you, but there are not so many throughout the whole match and you have to try to believe in every moment.”
The victory in Shanghai also ensured Sinner’s fourth ATP Masters 1000 title overall and his third this year, adding to his wins in Cincinnati and Miami.
In Wuhan, Sabalenka battled through a tough third set to beat world No. 5 Zheng 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
The Belarusian top seed finally prevailed on her third match point against the Chinese No. 1 after a big-hitting battle that lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.
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