Djokovic maintains dominance vs. Fritz, sets Sinner final in Shanghai

Novak Djokovic is on the brink of a rare milestone at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Aiming to become just the third man to lift 100 tour-level singles titles, the Serbian maintained his perfect Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Taylor Fritz to book his spot in the championship match at the Chinese ATP Masters 1000. Djokovic mixed trademark, gritty defence with spectacular shotmaking from the baseline in Saturday's clash to prevail 6-4, 7-6(6), his 10th straight tour-level victory against Fritz, and set a final showdown with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

“I came to Shanghai after five years of not playing in China, the place where I’ve always had great success, both in Shanghai and Beijing,” said Djokovic, when asked about the prospect of joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) in the 100-plus titles club. “[I’ve won] many titles, had great battles and great performances. I’ve said it many times, the support that I get here is tremendous and I’m very grateful.

“That creates an energy that keeps me going, keeps me running, so I did come here definitely with a vision and a desire to get to the final and fight for a 100th title. I get that chance against the best player in the world, and let’s see what happens.”

ONE win away from a century of titles ‼️@DjokerNole wins the epic battle v. Fritz 6-4 7-6 to advance to his 59th ATP Masters 1000 final!@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/PopX6Gqdso

Chasing his 50th tour-level win of the season, Fritz dug deep in the opening game against Djokovic to hold serve from 0/40, but the American struggled to make an impact in return games for much of the semi-final encounter. He earned only two break points in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats, when Djokovic was down 3-4, 15/40 in the second set. Yet the Serbian rallied to hold serve, and Fritz was later unable to force a deciding set after letting slip a set point behind his own serve at 6/5 in the tie-break.

Djokovic had acknowledged a ‘strange feeling’ in his unbandaged left knee during his quarter-final victory against Jakub Mensik on Friday, and he again appeared in discomfort during the closing stages against Fritz. He received treatment from the physio on the issue at 5-6 in the second set, but he was nonetheless able to grind out victory via the second-set tie-break.

“It always takes it out of me, these kinds of battles, but particularly towards the end of the tournament,” said Djokovic. “At this stage of my career, I’m doing my best to recover and I had some issues here and there on the court, physically, yesterday and today. But I managed to overcome it. It was a stern test. Taylor is in form, playing probably the best tennis of his life coming off a Grand Slam final, and he’s playing really well, particularly on this surface.

“He’s serving big, so I knew it was going to be a big test for me. I did not want to get to a third set, and I’m just glad to overcome in two.”

With his one-hour, 56-minute win against Fritz, the record 40-time Masters 1000 titlist Djokovic advanced to his record-extending 59th final at that level, and his first of the 2024 season. The 37-year-old has now reached a Masters 1000 title match in 17 different seasons (2007-09, 2011-24), the same number as his great ‘Big Three’ rivals Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Standing between Djokovic and a record-extending fifth title in Shanghai is World No. 1 Sinner, who earlier defeated Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5. Djokovic leads the Italian 4-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, although Sinner has won the pair’s two most recent meetings at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals and the 2024 Australian Open.

Djokovic’s latest victory in Shanghai was another boost to his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the 17th time. The 37-year-old rose above Casper Ruud into sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin by defeating Fritz on Saturday evening.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]