Novak Djokovic continued his brilliant run of form as he breezed past the Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 6-4 to win the 2018 Shanghai Masters title for the fourth time on Sunday.
The Serbian tennis star will be No. 2 in the world ATP ranking on Monday, ahead of the Swiss Roger Federer who was stopped by Coric in the half, and a handful of points only Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
“I could not hope for a better scenario. I am now very close to Nadal in the standings, and I am in a good position for the last period of the year,” Djokovic said.
After an end of 2017 spent treating an elbow injury, an attempt to return in early 2018 aborted and an operation in February, “Nole” certainly imagined not to be in the running to occupy for the fifth time in his career the end of season throne, a fantastic performance that only Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer have achieved, and that only Pete Sampras has been more successful with six years at the top of the standings.
But after a fantastic summer, in which he lost just one game and won his 13th and 14th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and then at the US Open, the 31-year-old’s return to the foreground appears as the obviousness.
“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure whether it has happened ever, you know, that I go through a tournament without dropping one service game,” Djokovic said.
“I’m sure that it hasn’t happened too many times if it did. So this was definitely one of the best service weeks that I had in my career.
“But for me serve was always, so to say, a hidden weapon, the shot in the game that is obviously very important, “the” most important. But I always try to use it with an accuracy and efficiency rather than speed and power.” he added.
Borna Coric congratulates Novak Djokoviv after Shanghai Masters final. (Source:www.sports.ndtv.com)
Djokovic has no point to defend by the end of the season, and he has not ruled out lining up in a week in Basel or Vienna. There will be no matter what happens to the huge favorite. And if he ever fails in Austria or Switzerland, no doubt he will try his luck again in Paris-Bercy, then at the London Masters.
