Novak Djokovic crushed Flavio Cobolli at the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
With a history of dominance at this tournament, Djokovic has secured four titles and reached the finals as many times, sharing that record with Andy Murray. He’s played 41 matches here, winning 36 of them, and holds an impressive win rate of 87.8%.
This year, he might also become the oldest champion ever at this event, surpassing Roger Federer’s record from 2017 . Fans think it would be amazing to see him break yet another record.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic | 37 | 8,360 | 18 - 6 |
Dominance in Shanghai:
Djokovic is more than a year older than Federer was when he set the current age record. But before thinking about records, Djokovic needs to reach the final match. So far, he’s on track after a strong third-round performance.
In his first match back since 2019, Djokovic faced a tough challenge against Alex Michelsen with two tie-breaks. His next opponent was Cobolli, who had less time to rest after playing Stan Wawrinka just two days earlier.
Starting strong against Cobolli, Djokovic quickly took control by breaking his serve early and leading 3-0 in no time. The Italian struggled to keep up with Djokovic’s aggressive style and lost the first set 6-1.
Cobolli tried to fight back in the second set and even led briefly at 2-1. But then Djokovic went on a five-game winning streak to finish the match with scores of 6-1 and 6-2.
Afterwards, Djokovic shared that his game plan worked perfectly due to Cobolli’s fatigue from previous matches: “Pretty sharp from the beginning,” he said. “I had a clear plan… staying aggressive.”
Next up for Djokovic is Roman Safiullin. With matches postponed due to scheduling changes, this ATP Masters event feels like it’s back to its old one-week format but squeezed into five days now! Yet for someone like Djokovic who hasn’t played too many games recently? Not an issue!
“Bringing back the old format,” he commented cheerfully about playing daily if needed because he’s feeling fresh.
What do you think? Can anyone stop him?
