Novak Djokovic missed the opportunity to claim the 100th title of his stellar career as Jannik Sinner won a high-quality Shanghai Masters final.
World number one Sinner, 23, continued his dominant form this season with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory over the 37-year-old Serb.
Djokovic was aiming to become only the third man – after Jimmy Connors (109) and the watching Roger Federer (103) – to chalk up a ton of titles.
“I have got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future,” said 24-time major champion Djokovic, whose only title this year has been the Olympic gold which had been eluding him.
“It’s not a live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I’ve achieved all of my biggest goals in career.
“Right now it’s really about Slams and about seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself.”
Sinner, who continues to have a doping case lingering in the background despite being initially cleared of wrongdoing, played impeccably to pick up his seventh title of a remarkable year.
The Italian, whose successes have included the Australian Open and US Open, has won 65 of his 71 matches in 2024.
Djokovic still motivated by pushing the youngsters
The carrot of the century had been providing extra motivation for Djokovic in Shanghai.
So too was the opportunity to show the younger generation that he still has the quality and durability to beat them to the biggest prizes.
However, a couple of lapses from the four-time Shanghai champion at key moments proved costly in Sunday’s final and allowed Sinner to edge the most critical points.
Despite the defeat, Djokovic has plenty of positives to take from a tournament where he produced some of his best tennis of the year.
“I still think that I played pretty good, so it gives me reason to believe that I can still play with these guys that are best in the world,” added Djokovic.
Losing to Sinner for the third consecutive time, though, is a telling statistic as the veteran aims to keep pushing the next generation led by Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
“It’s tough to tell you the secret [to beating Djokovic] because he doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Sinner said.
“You have to use the small amount of chances he gives you. He is a legend of our sport and is very tough to play against.”
How Sinner continued recent dominance
A tight first set, packed with quality serving and ball-striking, saw neither player earn a chance of a break, with none of the 12 games leading to the tie-break even going to deuce.
Both men have strong tie-break records this season, but it was Sinner who took control after racing into a 4-0 lead.
Djokovic reduced the deficit to 5-3 – then planted a backhand volley into the net to tee up three set points.
A sharp backhand on a second serve helped him save the first before he dragged a return wide to gift Sinner the set.
Djokovic winning the same number of points as Sinner in the opening set – 73 each – demonstrated the fine margins.
The second set turned on Djokovic missing another backhand volley at the net.
It teed up the first break points of the match in Sinner’s favour and the top seed took the second emphatically with a forehand winner which left even Djokovic unable to react.
The break was decisive and irretrievable for Djokovic.
Sinner continued to defend and attack superbly, offering no opportunities for Djokovic as he served out to win the Shanghai title for the first time.
