Novak Djokovic hints at playing 500 ATP event as well as Paris and London as he chases down Rafael Nadal for world No 1 spot
Sunday 14 October 2018 16:16, UK
Novak Djokovic says winning his fourth Shanghai Masters title on Sunday is a "phenomenal" achievement.
Djokovic won the Shanghai Masters after a convincing 6-3 6-4 victory over surprise finalist Borna Coric in China.
He secured his fourth title at the tournament and in the process moved a step closer to ending the year as world No 1 .
The Serb extended his winning run to 18 matches in China, following up his successes at Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters and US Open.
Djokovic maintained his record of not dropping serve during the week and becoming just the third player to win a Masters 1000 event without getting broken.
"It's phenomenal, I'm very proud of this (achievement) as well as my team and I owe a great thanks to them and my family. Everyone that is on this road," said the 31-year-old.
"The success over the last three or four months have been terrific for me. There have not been many holes in my game in general, especially this week.
"Everything worked perfectly and this one definitely one of the best serving weeks that I had. I think I only faced two, maybe three break points the entire week and I didn't drop serve the entire week. That hasn't happened too many times and I don't think that has ever happened so I'm very pleased with that part of my game and the result."
Novak Djokovic is just distancing himself from the rest of the pack, now just 35 points behind Rafael Nadal in the Race to London. If he wins another tournament before The O2 then he will be number one in the race and I believe he will be number one at the end of the season. He has been quite spectacular this week and since Wimbledon. When he plays at his best you say 'how do I beat this guy?' There are no holes in his game, it is magnificent.
Coric, who knocked out Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer en route to his first ATP Masters series final, matched Djokovic in the early exchanges and the Serb said of his opponent: "I like him a lot. I've followed his career ever since he was a junior growing up. We speak the same language and practice a lot together.
"I feel like at times I've also mentored him because he's always wanted to know more about tennis and about everything. I'm really glad that he's doing well. I've always known that he has the potential to be one of the top players in the world and now he's been making a name for himself on this stage."
The victory means Djokovic is now just 35 points behind Nadal in the race to end the year as world No 1.
And he added: "I cannot have asked for a better scenario. I'm very close to Nadal in the rankings and I've put myself in a position for the last period of the year. I'm planning to play Paris and London, maybe another tournament before then, maybe not, but the game is working really well and ending the year as number one would be the biggest achievement of this year."
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