Novak Djokovic has made his first official call regarding his schedule for the last phase of the 2024 season, and it is an interesting one.
Djokovic became a gold medalist at the Olympic Games for the first time in his career after an epic final win over World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz last Sunday. The 37-year-old became the oldest tennis player to win a gold medal at the Games and did so without losing a set.
The Serbian star has craved the one title missing from his large trophy cabinet, and the overpowering emotion after the last point on Sunday was plentiful evidence of just how much it meant to him. Djokovic, shaking and ecstatic, was tearful and relieved as he sank to his knees on the court.
However, tennis moves on so quickly, and attention has switched to the last quarter of the season, which will be hectic as it will involve a lot of globetrotting in North America, Asia, Europe, and in between that, the Middle East to play a lucrative exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia.
Djokovic, who is absent from this week's Canadian Open as expected, has not confirmed whether he will play a warm-up tournament before the US Open, although he is featured in the initial entry list for the Cincinnati Open, where he has a title to defend.
However, he has announced that he will return to Asia to play in the 2024 Shanghai Masters for the first time since 2019. In a video shared by the tournament's official social media accounts, the former World No. 1 was delighted to reunite with Chinese tennis fans on September 30th.
"Nihao (Hello). It's Novak here. I can't wait to be back in Shanghai this year to play at the Rolex tennis Masters in Shanghai. It's been five years since I played last in China. I miss my Chinese fans, I miss playing on the Chinese soil."
"I've had so much success over the years in Shanghai and I can't wait to be back I actually won my first World Tour Finals or Masters event back in 2008. So fantastic memories over the years, all my Nolefam China, hope to see you there, and let's all enjoy some great tennis at the Qizhong Tennis Center in Shanghai."
Djokovic is the most successful player in Shanghai Masters history, winning the tournament a record four times, excluding his first ATP Finals win, which was held in the Chinese city back in 2008. His last title win was in 2018, but he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal during his last visit in 2019.
The tournament was subsequently not held for three years (2020-2022) because of coronavirus restrictions in China. It was only last year that it was reinstated on the ATP calendar, and Hubert Hurkacz won his second Masters 1000 by beating Andrey Rublev.
In 2023, Djokovic withdrew from the Shanghai Masters, presumably because of fatigue after a busy summer in the United States, during which he won the Cincinnati Open and a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam at the US Open.
He also helped Serbia qualify for the knock-out phase of the Davis Cup Finals shortly after and understandably opted not to travel to Asia. But it looks like Djokovic has tailored his schedule to accommodate the Shanghai Masters in what is expected to be another busy last three months before the end of the season.