It would have been a brave man who had gambled on whether either Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic or both failed to reach the Rolex Shanghai Masters Final after their arrival into the semis.
It’s amazing, it’s what you dream of when you’re a kid, when you’re young. Just trying to reach the number one Jannik Sinner
Both cleared their semi-final opponents without dropping a set and both are poised to reach landmarks in their respective careers.
Sinner’s 6-4 7-5 win over Tomas Machac means he will be the first player from his country to achieve the distinction of ending the year as the world No.1.
“It’s amazing, it’s what you dream of when you’re a kid, when you’re young. Just trying to reach the number one [rank],” Sinner said on being told after his one-hour 43-minute victory, his 64th win of the season.
“Having the year-end [No.1 spot] is also a different and special feeling, but this happens during a tournament so I’m not even looking [at that].
“I know that tomorrow is going to be an important day, the final is ahead, but yeah, it means so much and it’s something that I could not accomplish without the people I have around [me].”
The two-time Grand Slam champion continued his exceptional 2024 campaign and proved too strong for his opponent as he produced another excellent performance to dispatch the in-form Czech to reach his third Masters final.
Sinner had to quickly recover from dropping his first service game, an advantage which the 23-year-old Machac lost when the Italian gained control to lead 5-4 and then wrapped up the set with another break.
But Machac was not disheartened and fought throughout the second set with both players successfully hanging on to their serves until the final game at 6-5, when Sinner eventually broke through the Czech’s defenses to clinch the set and victory.
Novak Djokovic hopes to extend his run of titles
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Turning to Djokovic, the Czech former world No1 is poised to win his 100th title and if successful, will become only the third player to reach that landmark behind Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.
The 37-year-old Serbian, a record-holding 24-time Grand Slam champion, overcame the 7th seeded Taylor Fritz for his 10th win in as many matches against the American.
Djokovic got the job done in straight sets to get through 6-4 7-6(6), eventually getting over the line via a second-set tiebreak to earn the chance to win his 40th Masters title, already a record. His last title at this level was Paris nearly 12 months ago.
“I did come here, this year, definitely with the vision or desire to get to the finals and fight for 100 titles,” Djokovic told Sky Sports after his win.
“I get that chance against the best player in the world, and we’ll see what happens.”
However, he is carrying a minor injury forcing him to wear a surgical support and required medical attention during both his last two matches
“It always takes it out of me, these types of battles. Particularly towards the end of the tournament,” Djokovic added.
“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 a little bit but managed to overcome it. It was a stern test.”
Fans were obviously hoping for a China Open repeat blockbuster final between the two youngsters who are now dominating the game, but Carlos Alcaraz fell in the quarterfinals to Machac, leaving the veteran Djokovic to face the current No.1 which should still provide an excellent title match.
Again, it will take a brave man to bet on the outcome.
