Novak Djokovic suffered a shock second-round loss to Hubert Hurkacz on the Shanghai Masters, simply three days after triumphing on the China Open in Beijing.
The 39-year-old Djokovic ended an 11-month wait to elevate the 102nd title of his illustrious profession after Alex de Minaur retired injured from the China Open remaining.
However, contesting his sixth match within the house of 10 days, Djokovic misplaced to Hurkacz for the primary time in 9 profession conferences with the Pole.
The large-serving Hurkacz, winner in 2023 and presently ranked thirty fourth on the earth, claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory in 87 minutes.
“It is a particular evening. I have been taking part in Novak for like seven years. It has been unsuccessful however [he has been] such an excellent champion for thus a few years,” Hurkacz stated.
“He simply gained Beijing, so it is a very tough job to play towards him, but in addition it’s a pleasure for me to share a courtroom with him, to play such a legend of the game.”
Males’s file 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic claimed a tour-level singles title for the twenty first 12 months in a row together with his victory in Beijing, the place he’s on a 34-match successful streak.
That was solely his second remaining of the 12 months following January’s Australian Open remaining defeat by Carlos Alcaraz.
However, having crushed world quantity two Alexander Zverev and led third seed Daniil Medvedev by a set and a break when the Russian was defaulted on his approach to the Beijing remaining, Djokovic’s Shanghai bid as undone by a single break of serve in each units towards Hurkacz.
Whereas victory in Beijing boosted his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals, Djokovic, presently ninth within the race to Turin, will now require a powerful displaying on the Paris Masters in November to interrupt into the highest eight.
Additionally in Shanghai, Nice Britain’s Arthur Fery misplaced out in a closely-fought three-set contest towards former top-10 participant Karen Khachanov.
Fery, who achieved a fairytale run to the Wimbledon semi-finals this 12 months, was crushed 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) after three-and-a-half hours.
