Novak Djokovic will be back in action at the
Shanghai Masters for the first time in five years as his plans post Olympic Games emerge.
Djokovic achieved the ultimate as such when he finally became an Olympic Games gold medalist over the weekend. It was his first title of 2024 and despite playing a more regimented schedule in recent years, he will play in China potentially for the last time in his career.
Canada this week for instance isn't often a stop on Djokovic's radar and isn't this year. But he played Monte-Carlo earlier this summer for instance which is often not a Djokovic stop so he has been making certain scheduling decisions not regimented to his usual routine.
After his US Open win in 2023, Djokovic did not play until the end of the year. He won the Paris Masters and ATP Finals in quick succession before playing the Davis Cup. But instead Djokovic will take a different tact going into the back end of 2024. He will play Shanghai instead.
“Hello! I can’t wait to be back to play in the Rolex Shanghai Masters," he said on their social media pages. "You are so great China, I love you – thank you!”
He has not played in China since before the COVID-19 pandemic and was beaten last in 2019 by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight. Cancelled between 2020-22 due to COVID concerns, he has only technically had one chance other than that to play it and snubbed it in 2023 due to the US Open.
He has won the title four times making him the most successful ever stretching back to 2012 when he defeated Andy Murray. He will next play at the Cincinnati Open next week which he defends after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final last year.
