Tennis: End Of An Era? Sinner Dominates Djokovic To Win Shanghai Masters

A few days after Rafael Nadal bidded farewell to tennis bringing an end to an illustrious career could the sports be bidding farewell to another great?

Jannik Sinner produced a dominating display against Novak Djokovic in the Rolex Shanghai Masters final to lift his seventh title of 2024.

The Italian, who is already guaranteed to finish the season as world No 1, was in red-hot form as he surged to a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 triumph against the 24-time Grand Slam champion to become the first man to win more than six titles in a calendar year since 2016 when Andy Murray won nine.

His victory denied Djokovic a 100th career title, although this week has been another reminder that the 37-year-old remains very much a factor at the top of the game.

Sinner describes his Shanghai Masters win against Djokovic as one of his ‘toughest challenges’

“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” said Sinner, who has now won four of his last five match-ups with Djokovic.

“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.”