Novak Djokovic must wait a little bit longer to collect his 100th top-level singles title, as the 37-year-old was conquered by an irrepressible Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
In a rematch of last year's ATP Finals championship match and this year's Australian Open semi-final, Sinner denied Djokovic a landmark triumph with a 7-6[4] 6-3 victory to collect his seventh honour of the year.
Adding to his Australian Open, US Open, Rotterdam, Cincinnati, Miami and Halle titles, Sinner became the first man on the ATP Tour to win at least seven honours in one single season since Andy Murray collected nine in the 2016 term.
Already boasting many Italian tennis records, Sinner - who has also confirmed his year-end number one status - became the first man from his nation to win the Shanghai title, while also condemning Djokovic to his first defeat in the Masters championship match.
"It was a very tough match, obviously, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have," Sinner said on the court after becoming the youngest man to ever win the Shanghai Masters crown.
"It's tough to tell you a secret about [Djokovic] because he doesn't have any weaknesses. You have to try and use the small chances that he gives you, but there are not many during the match. He is a legend of our sport, he's very tough to play against, so I am very happy."
Sabalenka completes Wuhan three-peat in epic final
© Imago
Following Sinner's relatively straightforward victory, Sabalenka and home favourite Zheng competed an absorbing Wuhan Open final, where the Belarusian made it three titles in the competition with an extremely hard-fought 6-3 5-7 6-3 win.
The finalists were reuniting on the back of Sabalenka's success over Zheng in the final of the Australian Open, and the top seed added to her crowns from 2018 and 2019 at the end of a two-hour and 36-minute marathon.
The critical moment came in the ninth game of the third set, where Zheng briefly appeared to have broken Sabalenka as the top seed was serving for the championship, only for the Belarusian to successfully challenge and have the call overturned.
Sabalenka subsequently saved that break point before converting her third championship point with a slick volley at the net, and she is now just the second woman to win three titles at a single WTA 1000 event after Serena Williams in Miami.
Even though Sunday's showdown ended in heartache for Zheng - who has now lost each of her three matches against Sabalenka - the Olympic gold medallist had already made history as the first-ever Wuhan Open finalist from China.
Ben Knapton
