Italy's world number one Jannik Sinner continued his stunning form on Sunday, beating Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters.
The 23-year-old Italian, who also won this year's Australian Open and US Open, had arithmetically made sure sure.he would end the year at number one in the ATP singles rankings by defeating Czech Tomas Machac in the semi-finals on Saturday..
In June Sinner became the first Italian to be a singles tennis number one since computerised rankings were introduced in 1973.
He has not relinquished the position since.
"It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have," Sinner said after Sunday's victory.
"Given the opponent, it is a special victory," he told the crowd, which featured Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz.
"Nole is a sports legend and it is always tough to play against him.
"He served great in the first set but I held and I knew I had the weapons to beat him in the end".
When asked what the secret is to beating Djokovic, he replied: "It's tough to tell you a secret because he doesn't have any weaknesses.
"You have to try and use the small chances that he gives you, but there are not many during the match," Sinner continued.
"He is a legend of our sport, he's very tough to play against, so I am very happy".
The win gave Sinner his seventh tour title of 2024, making him the first man to win more than six titles in a calendar year since Andy Murray won nine in 2016.
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