Novak Djokovic on where he favours himself against Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner...

Shanghai

Djokovic on where he favours himself against Alcaraz & Sinner...

Serbian competing for first time since his US Open semi-final defeat in early September

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Novak Djokovic in action last month at the US Open. By Sam Jacot

Novak Djokovic’s intergenerational rivalries with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner has been one of the hottest talking points on the Tour in the past three years.

The Spaniard and Italian have split the past eight majors since Djokovic’s triumph at the US Open in 2023, but the Serbian has had his share of success, beating Alcaraz in the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal match and Sinner in the title decider at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals.

However, this season, the 38-year-old has struggled to find a way past the World No. 1 and No. 2, losing to Sinner in the semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and to Alcaraz in the last four at the US Open. Speaking ahead of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where Djokovic will compete for the first time since he fell to Alcaraz in New York, the former World No. 1 reflected on the state of his rivalry with both.

“I'm still working my hardest that I possibly can in the circumstances to challenge the guys or to challenge myself primarily and really see how I can do on all the tournaments that I take part in,” Djokovic said on Thursday during his pre-tournament press conference in Shanghai. “Of course, best-of-three, duration of the tournament, ideally seven days, that's where I feel I have a better chance to win a trophy or to make a significant result.

“Other than those matches that I lost to these best two players in the world, I think I played really good tennis in Grand Slams and reached semi-finals in each one of them. So it speaks about the level and the consistency and so I'm pleased with that. But at the same time there's a part of me that always is a winner, that, you know, wants to be the best. I've been fortunate to experience the greatest thing.”

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Djokovic opens against Marin Cilic in Shanghai and is seeded to meet the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Sinner in the semi-finals. Sinner leads Djokovic 6-4 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and has won their past five meetings, dating back to Turin in 2023. However, Djokovic is not too disheartened despite his recent record.

“It is not ideal when you really are playing big matches and you're losing against currently the best players in the world. But nevertheless, that's not discouraging me to keep going,” Djokovic said. “I don't play tennis only for the sake of making results and winning trophies, there's several other reasons why I keep going.”

One of those reasons the 100-time tour-level titlist continues to compete is the opportunity to play in front of his son Stefan, daughter Tara and wife Jelena. Stefan and Tara have regularly been spotted watching their dad courtside, with Tara’s celebration dance with Djokovic a fun highlight of this year’s Wimbledon.

“My son, he plays tennis more and so he follows what's going on. He was really insisting on traveling with me to China. He wants to travel with me everywhere, but he has to do school, and it's not that simple,” Djokovic said. “But he's really in love with tennis and the sport.

“My kids and my wife are my biggest supporters and when they are in the stadium you've seen them how they support, how passionately they care about and play with me every single point. So, of course, me seeing them on the stands it's even more inspirational. I love to have them.”

Djokovic will not be joined by his family in Shanghai, where he is a record four-time titlist. The Serbian made his debut at the event in 2009 when the tournament was founded and enjoys his trips to China.

“I think it's a very important tournament for promotion of our sport globally, but particularly in Asia, in China and Asia and this part of the world that maybe doesn't necessarily follow certain tournaments that are played in some other continents,” said Djokovic, who holds a 39-6 tournament record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

“It's important that there are big tournaments like this that promote tennis and attract more attention to the sport for young people in China. China is the biggest country in the world in terms of population, with India. Chinese people love racquet sports, we know that. So there's a long history and tradition and culture of tennis and ping pong and the other racquet sports. You can see that there's a lot of excitement for the tennis in Shanghai, but also in Beijing.”

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