| October 11, 2024 | by Vivienne Christie |
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For all the beloved traditions that exist in tennis, it's equally thrilling when the sport moves forward. Some of the brightest - and biggest - stars have shown as much in their career-best 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters performances.
But as Jannik Sinner, Tomas Machac and Taylor Fritz prepare for their maiden semifinal appearances at the tournament on Saturday, they are joined by a superstar who clearly loves his own Shanghai tradition - and that's winning.
In nine previous visits, Novak Djokovic has claimed a tournament-leading four Rolex Shanghai Masters titles. He is also a four-time semifinalist and has never lost before the quarterfinals.
The 37-year-old has sent a pointed message of his enduring ability against next-gen challengers in his long-awaited return to Asia's only ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Djokovic staved off 20-year-old Alex Michelsen in his opening-round match and following straight-sets wins over No.27 Flavio Cobolli and dangerous hard-courter Roman Safiullin, he halted the inspired charge of 19-year-old Jakub Mensik.
His three-set win over the 19-year-old Czech was Djokovic's 38th match win at the event.
It's an intimidating prospect for No.7 seed Fritz, who is yet to achieve a victory over the Serbian in the nine matches they've played. The last of those occasions was in the Australian quarterfinals in January, when Djokovic won in four sets.
"You know, we played a lot of times and I've never gotten him, so I'm really, really just waiting for that, you know, excited for the chance, and waiting for that time when, you know, maybe I can get a first win on him," said Fritz.
"So, that is something, I would be really excited about. Obviously, incredibly tough … but, you know, hopefully one of these times I'm due, because I'm only getting better and better."
Sinner is equally wise to the threat an in-form Machac could present in their semifinal. The world No.1 has dropped just one set in Shanghai this week, doing so against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round. Wins over Taro Daniel, Ben Shelton and Daniil Medvedev have underlined Sinner's potential to add to his six titles for the season.
But the 23-year-old Machac has developed some eye-turning form of his own in his progress to a first semifinal at this level. Following straight sets wins Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Aleksandar Vukic, he overcame the higher-ranked Tommy Paul in three sets in the fourth round. Machac's quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz, which halted the Spaniard's 12-match win streak, was among the biggest upsets on the ATP Tour this year.
"I feel like I was playing against a top 5 player, not even top 10, no, top 5, his level, it was so high," said Alcaraz after the Czech's straight-sets victory. "I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn't. I mean, since the first game until the last one, his level was so high. His ball speed, it was unbelievable."
While Sinner was the winner of the pair's only other match - at the Miami Masters, earlier this season - a confident Machac is determined to maintain the momentum he has struck so far in Shanghai.
"I try to play this level, and let's see what's going to happen. But, of course, I will enjoy the match," the 23-year-old said. "I will be playing right now against the No. 1 in the world, he's playing unbelievable tennis, especially on hard court … But I'm really looking forward to the challenge, so I will enjoy it."
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