Hurkacz beats Djokovic 6-4 6-3 in Shanghai Masters second round
Hubert Hurkacz beat Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-3 in the Shanghai Masters second round on Friday, three days after Djokovic won the China Open in Beijing. The defeat leaves Djokovic ninth in the race for a spot at the ATP Finals in Turin.
The match
Hubert Hurkacz beat Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Friday, in 87 minutes. It was the first time Hurkacz had beaten the Serb, who had led their head-to-head 8-0 before the match. Djokovic arrived in Shanghai three days after beating Alex de Minaur in the China Open final on Tuesday, when de Minaur retired injured. That title was Djokovic's 102nd career title and a record seventh China Open crown.
It's a special night. He just won Beijing so it's very difficult to play against him, but it's a pleasure for me to share a court with him, and play such a legend of the sport.
- Djokovic wins the China Open final after Alex de Minaur retires injured
- Djokovic says he plans to reach out to Sinner about his injury-plagued season
- Ben Shelton beats Daniel Altmaier 6-3 7-6(6) on his 24th birthday
- Hurkacz beats Djokovic 6-4 6-3 in the Shanghai second round
Hurkacz, ranked 34th in the world according to the BBC, finished with 13 aces and 28 winners and conceded little on serve. He won the 2023 Shanghai title and had missed the tournament in 2024 and 2025. He extended his winning streak in Shanghai to eight matches and now faces either Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or Zhou Yi of China.
- Aces
- 13 count
- Winners
- 28 count
Djokovic's season
The loss was the latest setback in a testing season for the 39-year-old Serbian, who suffered a shock first-round exit at the US Open, his earliest Grand Slam defeat since the 2006 Australian Open. Djokovic said he had not matched his level from Beijing and struggled with the surface. He was slightly more tired and did not feel the ball well on court.
I didn't feel myself on the court in terms of feeling the ball. It's a super quick surface, completely different from Beijing.
Djokovic is ninth in the race for a spot at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin. He will need a strong showing at the Paris Masters in November to break into the top eight. He had said on Thursday that he planned to reach out to Jannik Sinner about the Italian's injury-plagued season.
I am planning on only playing in Paris, so let's see. Hopefully I can have a good result there.
Zverev and the year-end No. 1 race
Top seed Alexander Zverev beat local favourite Wu Yibing 6-4 7-6(4) and stayed on track for the year-end world number one ranking. The German, the French and US Open champion, can secure the top spot by reaching the semi-finals in Shanghai. He also gets there if his nearest challengers, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton, lose at any stage of the Masters 1000 tournament. Jannik Sinner is currently the top-ranked player, but he withdrew from Shanghai and is taking the rest of 2026 off because of a right knee injury.
Other results
Ben Shelton, the US Open runner-up, celebrated his 24th birthday by beating Daniel Altmaier 6-3 7-6(6) to reach the third round. Shelton had lost both of his singles matches for the United States in Davis Cup after the US Open, where Zverev beat him in four sets in the final. Alex de Minaur advanced on a walkover when Alex Molcan retired with an undisclosed ailment. Qualifier Rei Sakamoto beat 23rd seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4 on the same day. Karen Khachanov beat Great Britain's Arthur Fery 7-6(8-6) 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-2) in three and a half hours, after Fery reached the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year.
