Novak Djokovic certainly hoped to leave China with his 100th career title, but that won't happen after he lost in the 2024 Shanghai Masters final.
Coming into the final match at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, the Serbian player knew he was the underdog against his younger opponent, who has been the best player in 2024.
Jannik Sinner already had six titles to his name this year and added his seventh in Shanghai by beating the 37-year-old in two relatively straightforward sets, as he didn't have to face a single break point.
For Djokovic, it wasn't just his first chance to win a title in 2024, apart from the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but also a chance to win his 100th career Tour-level title.
He would have joined only two other men who managed to do that, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. The Swiss Maestro was even in attendance for the match, seeing his rival lose the match to a young powerhouse.
Following the match, Djokovic could have been disappointed by losing in the final, but instead, he chose to look on the positive side of his run into the final, as there were many positives to take from his stay in China.
"Well, I think there's quite a few positives that I can take. First of all, I think the level of my tennis was really good this tournament, probably best after Olympic games in terms of how I played, how I performed, how I fought."
Losing a tennis match always hurts a tennis player, and the greater the occasion, the more painful the loss. That's why, despite seeing the positives, Djokovic's loss in the ATP Masters 1000 final was certainly disappointing for him.
On top of that, it wasn't only about another title that he could win. This one would have a milestone number 100 next to it, but for a player who has won it all, something like a 100th title doesn't sound so special anymore, as Djokovic admitted that it isn't an achievement he would be desperate to achieve.
"Well, I mean, that's a bonus, you know, if that can happen. I mean, I definitely wish it to happen today, but it wasn't meant to be. I mean, I got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future, hopefully."
"It's not live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I've achieved all of my biggest goals in career. Right now, it's really about slams and about, you know, still seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself."
"As long as I perform the way I performed actually this week, and I think I can go toe-to-toe with the big guys, as long as that's the case, I guess I'll still feel the need to keep on competing, and motivation to be out there, and let's see how long that's going to last for."