The 29-year-old, champion here in 2023, took 87 minutes at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center. He won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve, 36 of 44, and held from two break points down in the third game. From there he was largely in control. Djokovic, 39, was playing his sixth match in ten days and looked short of energy after winning a seventh Beijing title on Tuesday, his 102nd tour crown.
“It’s a special night. I’ve been playing Novak for like seven years, so it’s been unsuccessful but he has been such a great champion,” Hurkacz said. “He just won Beijing, so it’s a very difficult ask to play against him. It is a pleasure for me to share a court with him. It’s a lot of fun, and then you also challenge yourself, to see where your level is.”
He said the start mattered. “If he gets ahead, he presents such a great level and it’s not easy to come back. Towards the end I was feeling some nerves. It’s not my first time leading by a break in a set against Novak, so I was trying to stay focused. I was pleased with the performance at the end.”
Hurkacz had reached the Chengdu final, then retired from his Beijing semi-final against Alex de Minaur with an adductor injury. He beat James Duckworth in the first round here and looked the fresher of the two. The win also makes him the fourth man, after Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, to take at least one hard-court win against each of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
He is on an eight-match winning run in Shanghai. Next is a third-round meeting with home wild card Zhou Yi, the world No. 277, who beat Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic’s next scheduled event is the Paris Masters in November. He is ninth in the race to Turin. The Beijing title stands. The Shanghai defence does not.