Serbia’s Novak Djokovic walks between points during his match against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz during their men’s singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 9, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Novak Djokovic won’t be tying Roger Federer ‘s mark for career titles at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
After winning his 102nd career title on Tuesday at the China Open in Beijing, the 39-year-old Serbian legend lost to Hubert Hurkacz, 6-4, 6-3 in his first match in Shanghai.
Jimmy Connors is the all-time men’s leader with 109 career titles, followed by Federer (103) and Djokovic.
Serving at 5-3 in the second set, Hurkacz closed out his first win over Djokovic in nine career meetings with a service winner.
“It’s a special night. I’ve been playing Novak for like seven years, so it’s been unsuccessful but [he has been] such a great champion for so many years,” Hurkacz said. “Being on Tour, at the top, and he just won Beijing so it’s a very difficult ask to play against him, but also it is a pleasure for me to share a court with him, to play such a legend of the sport.
“It’s a lot of fun, and then you also challenge yourself, to see where your level is.”
Playing in his first tournament since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open to Argentina’s Mariano Navone, Djokovic beat soon-to-be world No. 1 Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur on the way to the title in Beijing. Medvedev was defaulted for hitting a fan with a ball, and de Minaur retired mid-match with an injury.
But three days after that final, Djokovic was overwhelmed by Hurkacz, who served extremely well. The Pole banged out 13 aces against two double faults while making 70% of his first serves and winning 59% of his second-serve points.
He converted 2-of-5 break points, while Djokovic was 0–for-2.
Hurkacz fended off two break points to hold serve in the third game, and then was able to essentially control the match from the baseline from then on out.
“Definitely it was very important at the start to stay there with Novak, because if he gets ahead, he presents such a great level and it’s not easy to come back,” Hurkacz reflected. “Then towards the end of course I was feeling some nerves. It’s not my first time leading my a break in a set against Novak so I was trying to stay focused on my things, what I needed to do. I was pleased with the performance at the end.”
Djokovic remains in ninth place in the ATP Race to Turin. The top eight players make the ATP Finals next month, and Djokovic has said he hopes to qualify.
Among the winners on Friday in Shanghai were Zverev, Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov.
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