Novak Djokovic will be playing for his first ATP Points at the Shanghai Masters since his US Open defeat to Alexei Popyrin.
A slightly stunted summer of tennis peaked a little prematurely for Novak Djokovic as he finally got his hands on Olympic gold.
Having so cruelly eluded him since his maiden games in 2008, his win over Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympic final produced the most mesmerising match of the year.
The 37-year-old hasn’t played since the Davis Cup in mid-September where he won both of his ties for Serbia.
An upset in New York saw the defending champion truly outclassed by Alexei Popyrin. In truth however, Djokovic’s level in his opening two matches was uncharacteristically poor that when the defeat came, it almost felt overdue.
Novak Djokovic says what he will do after he retires from tennis
Part of a formidable generation, Djokovic is more or less the only man left standing. After Andy Murray followed Roger Federer into retirement at the Paris Olympics, Spain’s Rafael Nadal seems to be searching for the perfect place to call it quits.
With Djokovic still somewhat motivated by the prospect of a 25th major title – an achievement that would move him ahead of Margaret Court – the Serb is choosing his tournaments carefully.
However, speaking about potential retirement plans, Djokovic suggested he would be very keen to stay within the sport.
“My love for tennis will never fade away,” he confessed in quotes reported by Tennis Infinity. “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, you know, a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young, and I still have the love for the sport.
“Even when I retire from professional tennis, I feel like I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in, you know, in different roles, because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been giving to me.”
Who is Novak Djokovic set to play at the Shanghai Masters?
Djokovic will make his return to China at the upcoming Shanghai Masters after five years away.
The record four-time champion is seeded behind Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in a bumper ATP field.
The Serb is set to face either American rising star Alex Michelsen, or China’s very own Yunchaokete Bu – who recently reached the China Open semi-finals.
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