Novak Djokovic has arrived in Shanghai ahead of his return to the ATP Tour.
Djokovic confirmed he would play the Shanghai Masters last week, despite there being doubts that he would play the ATP 1000 tournament.
This is going to be the Serbian’s first event since the US Open, where Djokovic lost to Alcaraz in straight sets.
Although Alcaraz will not be in Shanghai, Djokovic has an opportunity to test himself against Jannik Sinner in best-of-three set matches where he is admittedly more comfortable at this stage of his career.
That is not the only thing for Djokovic, as he has now explained what the main differential between the Shanghai Masters and other ATP tournaments is.
Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic reveals what top players receive at the Shanghai Masters
Djokovic is making his 14th appearance at the Shanghai Masters this year, and last year returned to the ATP 1000 tournament after a five-year hiatus, four years of which was due to the event being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion came back in style, with Djokovic reaching the Shanghai final before losing to Sinner.
Now after arriving in Shanghai once again, Djokovic spoke to the ATPTour.com and praised the tournament for its facilities.
“Actually my first Masters Cup, what they call it now is the World Tour Finals was here back in 2007,” said Djokovic. “Amazing facility, obviously completely different type of comfort that top players experience here in particularly compared to other tournaments in this category, with having your own locker room, makes a difference.
“You know the quality of organisation is great, you know really, really high standard and it’s been like that for years. You know, Chinese people are very passionate about their racket sports, tennis of course long tradition in Shanghai and yeah I just love it, I love the people and I had a fantastic year last year, played finals and came back to China after six (five) years…so I’ll try to be more ready.”
As the fourth seed, Djokovic is one of the top eight players at the Shanghai Masters this year who will receive their own private locker room.
Novak Djokovic’s Previous Results at the Shanghai Masters
Djokovic is a four-time champion at the Shanghai Masters, winning more titles than any other player in history at the tournament.
The first of those titles came in 2012, where Djokovic saved five championship points to beat Andy Murray.
After winning the title in Shanghai again in 2013 and 2015, Djokovic lifted his fourth and most recent trophy at the Masters 1000 event in 2018.
Following a quarterfinal defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019, Djokovic did not return to the tournament until last year where he reached the final.
It is now confirmed that Djokovic will play 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in his opening match at the 2025 Shanghai Masters.
Some of the other threats looming in his section of the draw include a potential quarterfinal meeting with Ben Shelton and semifinal against Sinner.
Djokovic is expected to play his first match at the Shanghai Masters against Cilic on Friday, October 3.