Sinner denies Djokovic’s bid for 100th career title in Shanghai Masters final as dominant season continues
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, giving the Italian his tour-leading seventh title of the season.
The Italian bettered the 24-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an hour and 37 minutes and never faced a break point in the outdoor hard-court tournament. Sinner hit eight aces and 22 winners to four and 12, respectively, for Djokovic.
Djokovic was aiming for his 100th tour-level title and his fifth in Shanghai. Only Jimmy Connors with 109 titles and Roger Federer with 103 have hit the century mark in men’s tennis.
Sinner became the first man to win more than six titles in a season since Andy Murray won nine in 2016. He also pulled level in his career record against Djokovic, now at four wins apiece.
“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” Sinner said. “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.”
The victory for Sinner came after he lost the final of the China Open in Beijing to Carlos Alcaraz and amid an ongoing doping case.
The 23-year-old Sinner is now 8-2 against top-5 opponents on hard courts this year, with both losses coming against Alcaraz, who watched Sunday’s final from the stands.
The 37-year-old Djokovic was playing in China for this first time in five years.
He also lost to Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals. His only title for the year so far was at the Paris Olympics, where he beat Alcaraz for the gold medal.
“I think I played some really good tennis, but congratulations to Jannik,” Djokovic said. “He was just too good today. Too strong, too fast, well done. You’re having an incredible year. You deserve this.”
Sabalenka completes 3-peat in Wuhan
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka completed a three-peat at the Wuhan Open with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Zheng Qinwen in the final on Sunday in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
Sabalenka won the tournament in both 2018 and 2019 before running her record to 17-0 on the hardcourts of Wuhan after dispatching Zheng in two hours, 40 minutes. The Belarus native had seven aces and took advantage of eight double faults by her Chinese foe to 4-0 all-time versus Zheng, the crowd favourite in her home nation of China.
“This place definitely feels like home,” Sabalenka said of her success in Wuhan.
The tournament was called off in 2020 because of the pandemic and didn’t return until this season.
Sabalenka, however, admitted that she had a tough time en route to capturing her fourth title of the year.
“First of all I would say the conditions are probably a little bit better for [Zheng] here,” Sabalenka said. “It’s much slower and the ball’s getting heavier. She has more things to do on the court when it’s slower.
“Honestly, I felt like I just lost little bit focus and I let her come back in the match. I got a little bit frustrated there. It became a three-set match. Balls are getting heavier, it’s third set, a bit emotional.”
Sabalenka followed up a three-set victory over former U.S. champion Coco Gauff in the semifinals with a fast start versus Zheng in a rematch of the first Grand Slam final of the season. Sabalenka needed just 38 minutes to win the first set before Zheng benefited from the home-court advantage to respond with a flourish in the second.
Undaunted, Sabalenka won the final three games of the third set to end the match.
Zheng, who won the Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, was bidding to become just the second Chinese player to claim a WTA 1000 title following Li Na’s victory in Cincinnati in 2012.
“She forced me to see some of the weaknesses in my tactics,” Zheng said of Sabalenka. “I really look forward to training. I look forward to the next match against her.
“After this loss, I’m feeling excited because I am doing better each time. There’s more room for improvement. I hope that I can close the gap and also can overcome this challenge.”
Sabalenka now turns her attention to the WTA Finals Riyadh, where she will continue her pursuit of Iga Swiatek of Poland for the No. 1 ranking. Sabalenka is No. 2.
“Really tight ranking right now,” Sabalenka said. “Really nice to see. I always say of course it’s one of the goals, but I prefer focus on myself and just keep working hard. We’ll see after the Finals if I was good enough this season to become World No.1.”
