Novak Djokovic has arrived in Shanghai, confirming his participating in the upcoming Masters 1000 tournament. It marks Djokovic’s first appearance in Asia since 2019–partly because those tournaments were cancelled from 2020 through 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I can’t wait,” the 37-year-old assured. “I’m super excited to see my Chinese fans, all the tennis fans. It’s one of the nicest tennis tournaments in the world. Five years has been too long to not visit China, so I’m really looking forward to [it].”
Djokovic has played only four matches since winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The Serb lost in round three of the U.S. Open to Alexei Popyrin before taking care of business in a Davis Cup qualifying rubber against Greece.
Nobody has won the Shanghai Masters more times than Djokovic (four).
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s fall schedule also includes the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia starting on October 16. The field features Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. Djokovic and Nadal have byes. Sinner will face Medvedev with the winner to meet Djokovic; the Alcaraz-Rune winner will go up against Nadal.
who ya got in Shanghai?