I have an extra motivation of trying to go for my 100th title – Novak Djokovic ahead of Shanghai Masters

Veteran Novak Djokovic is motivated to go all the way in the Shanghai Masters. The Serbian will return to action on the tour on Friday and will look to hit the ground running. Djokovic has four Shanghai titles to his name and he will aim to keep his good record.

Djokovic has had a glorious career as he has won 99 singles titles, including a record 72 Big Titles: 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, a record seven year-end championships, and an Olympic gold medal and he will aim to complete his century of singles titles.

“China has been a very successful and happy place for me. I’ve had great success on Chinese soil, both in Beijing and Shanghai,” said Djokovic. “I haven’t been here (Shanghai) for five years. I just love playing here, love the conditions, love the support that I get, and I also have an extra motivation of trying to go for my 100th title.

“I’m trying to improve daily on my practice sessions. I play a lot of practice points, games, and sets, and get to the desired level because I haven’t been playing too many tournaments lately, so I have some catching up to do with others.”

After going without a Slam for the first time since 2017 in this season, there have been questions on Djokovic’s future. The Serbian also shed light on his future plans in the game.

“My love for tennis will never fade away. I have a lot of emotions when I’m playing, and not particularly only in the tournament, but also practice sessions.

“Sometimes it’s not always going your way, but I think my relationship with tennis goes much deeper than a tournament or a year or success or failure, it’s just a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young, and I still have the love for the sport.”

He added, “Even when I retire from professional tennis, I feel like I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in different roles because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been giving to me.”