Sinner, Djokovic Set Title Match Showdown At Shanghai Masters

Jannik Sinner, Shanghai Masters
Jannik Sinner (photo: ATP Tour video)

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 12, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

By all measures, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has enjoyed an amazing 2024 season. He leads the ATP Tour in wins (64) and titles (six).

However, watch the talented young Italian play and listen to his interviews and, quickly, you’ll realize that for Sinner, the season’s not finished yet. There is work still to be done and rewards still worth pursuing.

“Tomorrow is a great final ahead, first time here in Shanghai,” said the Sinner, after improving his season win-loss record to 44-4 with a 6-4, 7-5 semifinal triumph over No. 33 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, who was seeded 30th, and had eliminated World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets during the semifinal round on Thursday.

“So, I’m looking forward to it, and then we see how it goes. Hopefully, it’s going to be a good match.”

Sinner will face current World No. 4 Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s championship final. The four-time Shanghai champion from Serbia fought off World No. 7 Taylor Fritz of the United States, 6-4, 7-6 (6), to set up an eighth meeting against Sinner. Djokovic leads his head-to-head versus Sinner 4-3.

On Saturday, the 23-year-old top-seeded South Tyrolean withstood Machac’s flying forehand returns and outstanding baseline hitting throughout the duration of their one-hour, 43-minute semifinal on Stadium Court at Qi Zhong Tennis Center. By the end, Sinner had beaten Mahac for the second time in two career meetings — and, more importantly, advanced to his first Shanghai championship match.

“I think we all saw how much talent how much firepower he can produce,” Sinner said during his on-court interview. Sinner was asked if Machac’s upset win over Alcaraz affected how he prepared for,his match against him. “I had to be very careful in every service game, because he returns very aggressively and very fast.”

Sinner hit 10 aces, struck 28 winners overall and converted three of seven break points. He outpointed Machac 76-62. The Czech countered with 23 winners and 23 unforced errors, but it wasn’t enough to produce another victory in what was a remarkable week for the 23-year-old Czech star.

“I just tried to stay there every point, to see what was going to happen, like you saw in the last game,” Sinner said. “Just playing every point with the maximum intensity I could, so I’m very happy about that. I’m happy to be back in a final again.”

Sinner is the third No. 1-ranked player to reach the Shanghai final.

With his semifinal triumph over Machac, Sinner also clinched the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. He is the first Italian to achieve that honor.

“Being No. 1 in the world at the end of the year,” Sinner reflected in his post-match news conference, “it was only a dream just to become No. 1 Now, finishing it, it’s also a different feeling.

“But now during the tournament it’s a bit different, so I’m just trying to be focused for tomorrow, and then we see how it goes.”

Sinner was asked by a reporter if at the start of the season he could have imagined everything he’s achieved. “No, not really, because, you know, you cannot predict the future in one way,” he theorized. “For me, I always try to improve as a player. For me it’s, you know, also depends how you start a season. You know, if you start it in a good way like I did, you know, winning Australia, then you have much more confidence throughout the whole season.

“But, yeah, the season is going amazingly. I just try to stay there, you know, every match I play, trying to find a solution somehow, you know, that’s it. I think it’s very tough to predict the future in any case, so I’m just trying to enjoy this moment, and also trying to improve daily, and then we see how it goes.”

Djokovic maintains dominance against Fritz

With an opportunity to become just the third man to win 100 ATP Tour singles titles, fourth seed Novak Djokovic ran his perfect record against American No. 1 Taylor Fritz to 10-0 following his 6-4, 7-6 (6) win in one hour and 56 minutes on Stadium Court.

“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,” Djokovic, 37, said during his on-court interview. He trails Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) among most career titles. “[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.”

Djokovic, who is a 40-time Masters 1000 titlist, advanced to his record-extending 59th Masters 1000 final and first this season by hitting seven aces and 28 winners overall, saved both break points he faced, and outpointed Fritz 82-73.

Although Djokovic received treatment from a physio on his left knee at 5-6 in the second set, he was able to continue and withstood the seventh-seeded Fritz to win a second-set tie-break and, ultimately, the semifinal match.

“It always takes it out of me, these kinds of battles, but particularly towards the end of the tournament,” said Djokovic, who will take a 4-3 advantage into his final against Sinner. “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.”

Fritz, 26, took his 10th straight loss to Djokovic in stride. He said: “I think for the majority of the match today I played pretty well, too, just never really came up with what I needed to come up with in a lot of big moments and the big points. He consistently came up with great serves, good shots on the big points, and I played some pretty poor ones in some big moments.”

Around the Rolex Shanghai Masters

Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni edged past Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8, in an hour and 39 minutes to reach the Rolex Shanghai Masters final.

Gonzalez and Molteni won 83 percent of their first-serve points out outpointed their opponents 71-64. They are through to their second ATP Masters 1000 final after winning the Cincinnati Open title in 2023.

In Sunday’s championship match, Gonzalez and Molteni, who have won four straight matches in Shanghai after losing seven of their previous 12, will play Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia. The teams have split their previous two matches, with Koolhof/Mektic winning at Auckland last January and Gonzalez/Molteni at Barcelona in April.

Saturday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters results

Sunday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters order of play

By the numbers

At No. 33, Tomas Machac was the fourth lowest-ranked Shanghai semifinalist in tournament history, behind No. 47 Kei Nishikori (2011), No. 41 Feliciano Lopez (2009), and No. 41 Juan Monaco (2010).

“Quotable …”

“Oh, it was great, for sure. I’m really happy with my performance every day. I’m not that disappointed today, because I was playing great, and there were just small things for Jannik’s side. But it was really close, I would say a much better match than in Miami, so I can be really proud of me.”

No. 30 seed Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, during his post-match media interview, summing up his tournament after losing to Jannik Sinner in the semifinal round.

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