Novak Djokovic missed the opportunity to claim the 100th title of his stellar career as Jannik Sinner won a high-quality Shanghai Masters final.
World number one Sinner, 23, continued his dominant form this season with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory over the 37-year-old Serb.
Djokovic was aiming to become only the third man – after Jimmy Connors (109) and the watching Roger Federer (103) – to chalk up a ton of titles.
“I have got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future,” said 24-time major champion Djokovic, whose only title this year has been the Olympic gold which had been eluding him.
“It’s not a live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I’ve achieved all of my biggest goals in career.
“Right now it’s really about Slams and about seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself.”
Sinner, who continues to have a doping case lingering in the background despite being initially cleared of wrongdoing, played impeccably to pick up his seventh title of a remarkable year.
The Italian, whose successes have included the Australian Open and US Open, has won 65 of his 71 matches in 2024.
