Novak Djokovic won but did not shine at his debut in the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, where he returned to play five years later. The former world number 1 – who won this prestigious tournament four times (his last triumph dates back to 2018) – needed two tiebreaks to beat the young American Alex Michelsen in a match that risked getting very complicated in the last part. He will face Italian Flavio Cobolli or Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the next round.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion is not yet at the top of his game and will have to grow considerably if he wants to win a Masters 1000 again. Nole has not won an ATP title this year and – if he had not won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics – his season would have been considered a failure.
Novak played little and badly in 2024, struggling to find his best tennis and suffering more than expected even in the Grand Slam tournaments. After his triumph in the Olympic tournament, the 37-year-old from Belgrade disappointed greatly at the US Open by being eliminated in the first week.
Nole reflects on his life
Djokovic – who is playing the tournament in Shanghai – will also be the protagonist of the ‘Six Kings Slam‘ in mid-October, while it is still uncertain his participation in the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. It is not excluded that the former world number 1 decides to close the season a month early to rest and prepare for 2025. The current world number 4 has made it clear time and again that his goals have changed in this last part of his career and that the ATP Finals are no longer a destination to be reached at all costs for him.
Djokovic won his first match at the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai beating American Alex Michelsen in two straight sets. In a press conference, Djokovic was also asked how he manages the life of a top athlete along with other aspects such as being the father of two children: “We all have different lives and commitments – said Djokovic -. It is difficult to make comparisons, what works for one may not work for another. I try to balance things and it may seem like I live a perfectly balanced life, but believe me, it is not so. I am trying to learn how to be the best father and husband possible, while being a tennis player and, of course, a son and brother. I miss my family when I travel, but at the same time I love tennis, really, and have the support of my loved ones to keep playing. So yes, it is a constant challenge, in a sense, to really embrace the present, evolve, grow and learn from the experiences you have the opportunity to do daily”.
“I was very lucky – continues the Serbian tennis player – in my life to experience everything that I have experienced, to have all these successes. The reception of the Olympic champions in Serbia, for example, was something unique, extraordinary and unforgettable, it was something that I will carry in my heart and memories for the rest of my life. My family was there to experience it firsthand: the most intense emotions I experienced on a tennis court were those of the moments after winning the gold medal. Like everyone I have difficult days but you need to remember what matters most: relationships with people and try to be the best possible version every day. I think that’s a bit of the formula“.
Zero titles this year
For the first time since 2017 and second time since 2011, Novak has not won a single Grand Slam title in an entire season. The former world number 1 reached only one final, at the Wimbledon Championships, but he gave up to Carlos Alcaraz in a one-way match. In a long interview with Sportskeeda, Tamara Zidansek’s coach Mike Digby revealed the differences between Djokovic, Nadal and Federer: “It is difficult because they all bring an aura. I speak about this word a lot, like an aura to the tennis court. They have a strong presence but if I was blindfolded, they’re very different auras.
I would say Federer, you can feel his presence just through the pure quality of ball striking. So just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it. But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right? His aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet. Novak has a blend of those two. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him. That’s genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. It makes him who he is.”