 "Novak Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of Shanghai Masters after battling pain and extreme heat. Image: X")
Novak Djokovic showed why he is still one of the toughest players on tour, surviving a brutal game against Jaume Munar to reach the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, October 7. The Serbian star struggled with pain in his left ankle and the sweltering heat in Shanghai, but managed to secure a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win.
Djokovic battles pain and heat to reach QFs
The match lasted two hours and 40 minutes, during which Djokovic frequently took medical timeouts and placed an ice towel over his head to cope with the humidity. He even vomited courtside multiple times and collapsed to the ground after losing the second set, before receiving medical support.
At one point, Djokovic was seen cleaning up his vomit on the court so the ball kids don’t have to. This gesture also earned him praise from fans on social media. Djokovic had earlier called the conditions “brutal” in Shanghai after winning his match against Yannick Hanfmann.
“It’s the same for every player out on the court, but it’s brutal. It’s brutal when you have over 80% of humidity day after day, particularly for the guys when they’re playing during the day with heat, with sun, it’s even more brutal. For me, biologically it’s a bit more challenging to deal with it. But I had to really weather the storm today. Yannick played an incredible match from the beginning,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Djokovic managed to pull off a win in the Round of 32. After losing the second set, he capitalised on an early error by Munar in the third set and took control of the match. Djokovic has now reached the quarterfinals in all 11 of his Shanghai Masters appearances, winning the trophy a record four times. He will next face Belgian Zizou Bergs on Wednesday, October 8.