The 39-year-old hunched and squatted between points on a cool evening. Hurkacz, 29 and the 2023 champion here, broke him in the fourth game of the second set when Djokovic double-faulted to trail 3-1, then served it out. The Pole hit 13 aces in an hour and 28 minutes. It was his first win in nine meetings.
“I didn’t feel myself on the court,” Djokovic said. “It’s a super-quick surface, completely different from Beijing. If you lose your serve, it’s enough to lose a match. It’s very difficult to return his serve, almost impossible. I didn’t adjust, and it was a really tough draw for me to play him in the first match-up.”
Beijing had been his 102nd tour title and a seventh China Open, a tournament he has never lost. Shanghai was the sixth match in ten days, and the legs did not travel with the trophy. Hurkacz had retired from his Beijing semi-final against Alex de Minaur with a strained muscle, then looked the sharper of the two.
“It was a challenging match, always,” the Pole said. “I was pleased with how I performed, how I received in important moments.”
Hurkacz next plays Lorenzo Musetti or Chinese wild card Zhou Yi. Djokovic’s next scheduled event is the Paris Masters in November. He is still ninth in the race to Turin. The Beijing week stands. The Shanghai week lasted one match.