After expressing uncertainty regarding his schedule in the latter part of the season, Novak Djokovic has made the decision to participate in the Shanghai Masters 1000. The former world No.1 has lifted the trophy in this tournament four times and played excellent tennis in the last edition as well, in which he reached the final and surrendered to Jannik Sinner.
The Serbian legend wants to test his level in best-of-three sets as well, after winning the 100th title of his crazy career in Geneva during the spring. The 38-year-old from Belgrade has shown that he still has the ability to raise his level in Grand Slam tournaments, but he has also understood that Sinner and Alcaraz represent two very tough obstacles for him at this point in his career.
Djokovic is already in China
Nole occupies the third position in the ATP Race at the moment, despite having played few tournaments and his body no longer responds to his needs as in the past. The 24-time Grand Slam champion – who continues to chase new records after having already made history in the sport – does not want to give up in his battle against time and is already looking forward to next season.
In the meantime, Djokovic has arrived in Shanghai and is ready to start practicing ahead of the penultimate Masters 1000 of the season. He could benefit from the forfeit of Carlitos Alcaraz, who chose to skip this tournament after winning in Tokyo to recharge his batteries. However, the world number 1 had been drawn on the other side of the draw from Novak and could only have faced each other in the final.
The return of the language master 👌@DjokerNole #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/j5j7gZVOTO
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) September 30, 2025
Before the end of this year, the Serbian veteran will also participate in the 'Six Kings Slam' in Saudi Arabia and the Athens ATP 250 in November (while his presence at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin is uncertain).
