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Novak Djokovic - Shanghai Masters 2024
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Novak Djokovic reveals ‘extra motivation’ for Shanghai Masters


Novak Djokovic has revealed his hope to remain within the tennis sphere post-retirement, as the 37-year-old returns to action at the Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic last played a match as part of Serbia’s Davis Cup squad almost three weeks ago, coming off the back of his earliest Grand Slam defeat in seven years at the US Open.

The current World No.4 is set to return at the Shanghai Masters this week, where he is a record four-time champion.

After winning Olympic gold in Paris, Djokovic has 99 titles to his name and has revealed his motivation to become only the third player in the Open Era to reach a century of titles on the ATP Tour.

“China has been a very successful and happy place for me. I’ve had great success on Chinese soil, both in Beijing and Shanghai,” said Djokovic. “I haven’t been here (Shanghai) for five years. I just love playing here, love the conditions, love the support that I get, and I also have an extra motivation of trying to go for my 100th title.

“I’m trying to improve daily on my practice sessions. I play a lot of practice points, games, and sets, and get to the desired level because I haven’t been playing too many tournaments lately, so I have some catching up to do with others.”

Jimmy Connors has the most ATP titles in the Open Era history with 109, while Roger Federer sits in second with 103.

With Djokovic not winning a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017, there has been more speculation than ever about his future in the sport.

Despite the speculation, Djokovic has explained that he still loves the sport and hopes to be part of it for the foreseeable future, “My love for tennis will never fade away. I have a lot of emotions when I’m playing, and not particularly only in the tournament, but also practice sessions.

“Sometimes it’s not always going your way, but I think my relationship with tennis goes much deeper than a tournament or a year or success or failure, it’s just a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young, and I still have the love for the sport.”

He added, “Even when I retire from professional tennis, I feel like I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in different roles because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been giving to me.”

Djokovic will begin his bid for a record fifth Shanghai Masters crown and 100th ATP title on Saturday, against either Alex Michelsen or the in-form Yunchaokete Bu.

Inside the baseline…

Novak Djokovic has not had the best year by his very high standards, but it seems as though he is content after claiming the Olympic gold medal, which was the thing that he wanted the most. It seems inevitable that Djokovic will win that 100th title, but whether it will be in Shanghai is yet to be known, however the Serbian will definitely be fresher than his rivals that competed in Beijing over the past week. Not only will Djokovic be eyeing a 100th title, but he is undoubtedly targeting Jimmy Connor’s record.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.