Jannik Sinner has made it three wins in three matches against Novak Djokovic as he produced a dominant display in the Shanghai Masters final to win his seventh title of the 2024 season.
Just days after it was confirmed he would finish the season as the year-end No 1, Sinner showed exactly why he has been the best player on the ATP Tour this year as he defeated the tennis great 7-6 (-4), 6-3 in the final.
The Italian has now won the Australian Open, Rotterdam Open, Miami Open, Halle Open, Cincinnati Open, US Open and Shanghai Masters in the calendar year as he took his overall ATP singles trophy tally to 17.
Sinner is also the first player in eight years to win more than six titles in a season with Andy Murray the last to achieve the feat when he won nine trophies in 2016.
But the manner in which the 23-year-old beat Djokovic was again impressive as he became only the third player after Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev not to face a single break point in a final against the legend.
The Shanghai Masters was Djokovic’s 141 top-level final and in only four of those matches has he not had a break point.
Federer achieved the feat at the 2012 Cincinnati Open when he won 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) and three years later he did it at the same ATP Masters 1000 event as he notched up a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory to lift the trophy. Zverev joined the list in 2017 when he defeated Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in the Italian Open final.
And a two-man club has become a three-man club after Sinner’s emphatic display in Shanghai.
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The Italian also drew level in his head-to-head with Djokovic as they are no 4-4. The 24-time Grand Slam winner initially held a 4-1 lead in the H2H series, but Sinner recorded wins at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals, the semi-final of the 2024 Australian Open and now in Shanghai.
“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have,” the two-time Grand Slam winner said. “I’m very happy with how I handled the situation. He was serving great in 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.”
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