World No.1 Jannik Sinner became the youngest man to win the Shanghai Masters after beating the legendary Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final on Sunday, October 13. The 23-year-old also became the first Italian to claim the title, winning the match 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. After taking down the former top-ranked player, Sinner also won his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title.

In fact, he has won his 17th title and has more titles than any other man on this tour. Sinner also became the first man to win more than six titles in a calendar year since former tennis star, Andy Murray, won nine titles back in 2016. Djokovic, who was looking to become the third man after the enigmatic duo of Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer to win 100 tour-level titles, stayed without a title in 2024.

Sinner took an hour and 37 minutes to go past Djokovic. Sinner secured a thrilling first set, boosting his record to 24-8 in tie-breaks this year. He then quickly raced to a commanding 4-1 advantage in the opening stages of the second set.

“It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have. I’m very happy with how I handled the situation. He was serving great the first set, I couldn’t find a way to break him. I played a really good tie-break which gave me confidence to start off well in the second set,” Sinner said after the match.

“It’s tough to tell you a secret about [Djokovic] 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. He is a legend of our sport, he’s very tough to play against, so I am very happy,” Sinner added.

Earlier, Sinner finished 2024 as the World No.1 after he secured victory over Tomas Machac in the semi-finals on Saturday. Djokovic held a 4-0 record in the Shanghai finals, but Sinner halted his winning streak.