Tennis missed out another chapter of the Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz rivalry in the semifinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, but Sinner will indeed face a different rival when the title is on the line on Sunday afternoon.
Novak Djokovic stands in Sinner’s way of the trophy and they will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers. It has been an intriguing matchup so far. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 4-3, but Sinner has won three of their last four encounters. The Italian most recently prevailed 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the 2024 Australian Open semis–that on the heels of victories at the Nitto ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals last fall. They have squared off in just one previous final, when Djokovic avenged his round-robin loss by triumphing in Turin with a 6-3, 6-3 beatdown.
There were questions about Djokovic’s motivation level following an early U.S. Open loss to Alexei Popyrin. Would he care about anything down the stretch after accomplishing his biggest goal of the season by winning Olympic gold? The answer appears to be “yes.” If the 37-year-old was not going to put in a max effort for another Shanghai title, he would already be out. Instead, Djokovic has ousted Alex Michelsen, Flavio Cobolli, Roman Safiullin, Jakub Mensik, and Taylor Fritz. The Serb is now 39-5 lifetime at this tournament and is the all-time leader with four titles.
Sinner clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking earlier this week and to say that it is well deserved would be an understatement. The 23-year-old boasts a 64-6 record that includes his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and U.S. Open. Showing no signs of slowing down at the finish line, Sinner has advanced in Shanghai with defeats of Taro Daniel, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, and Tomas Machac.
Although this matchup has not quite piqued Djokovic’s interest in the way that his epic rivalry with Alcaraz has done in the past, he should be eager to get another shot at Sinner after losing three of their last four meetings. In the final of an event he loves, a motivated Djokovic has a good chance to pull off a minor upset and lift the trophy–again.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
