Jannik Sinner defeats Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters final

Jannik Sinner defeats Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters final

Jannik Sinner secured the seventh title of the season at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday with a clear victory in two sets via Novak Djokovic. The Italian, who had already secured the place as the world's best player for the end of the year with his semi-final victory over Tomas Machac, defeated Djokovic with 7-6 (4), 6-3. This triumph represents the fourth Masters 1000 titles of his career and the third this year.

dominance by Jannik Sinner

Djokovic had set itself the goal of only becoming the third player in the story, who wins 100 titles on the tour, after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. But against Sinner's impressive surcharges, he was not able to set a decisive point because Sinner did not have to accept a single breakpoint throughout the game.

With a total of seven titles in one season, Sinner has most since Andy Murray, who won nine titles in 2016, according to the ATP. After the match, Sinner said: "It was a very hard game to play against Novak is obviously one of the biggest challenges. I am very satisfied with how I mastered the situation."

analysis of the game

"He opened in the first set, I couldn't break him. I played a really good tie -break that gave me the confidence in starting well in the second set," added Sinner. When asked whether he knew a secret about Djokovic, he said: "It is difficult to tell you a secret about (Djokovic), because he has no weaknesses. You have to try to take advantage of the little opportunities he exists, but there are not many of them during the game. He is a legend of our sport and it is very hard to play against him, so I'm very happy."

career balance and future challenges

Sinner's victory brings his record against Djokovic to 4-4, and the 23-year-old is the first player since Rafael Nadal in 2013, who defeats the Serbs three times in a row. Djokovic's defeat on Sunday was the first in his career in the final of the Shanghai Masters, where he previously had a perfect record of 4-0

The 37-year-old had suffered "injury problems", as he called them, both in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals, but did not seem to have been affected against Sinner. In his interview after the game, Djokovic noticed that Roger Federer was in the audience, which led to great cheers of the crowd. "I had additional pressure," he joked.

look at the next tournaments

The Paris Masters, which begins on October 28, is the last Masters event of the season before the top eight players in the world to Turin, Italy, travel to the ATP finals in November.