Hurkacz beats Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in Shanghai, three days after the Serb won in Beijing

Novak Djokovic lost his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Friday, beaten 6-4, 6-3 in 87 minutes by Hubert Hurkacz. It was Hurkacz's first win over Djokovic in nine meetings. Djokovic, the 10th seed, had a first-round bye, so it was a second-round defeat, and it came three days after he won the China Open in Beijing for his 102nd tour-level title.

Hurkacz's serve decides it

Hurkacz, 29, is the 2023 Shanghai champion and was playing in the city for the first time since that title. He beat James Duckworth in the first round to set up the match, one of the two possibilities in our draw preview. The tournament's report says he saved two break points in the third game and was largely in control from then on.

He won 82 per cent of the points behind his first serve (36 of 44), according to Infosys ATP Stats, and AFP counted 13 aces. Djokovic double-faulted in the fourth game of the second set to hand Hurkacz a 3-1 lead, and the Pole held serve to the end. Afterwards Hurkacz called it "a special night", and said it had been important to stay level with Djokovic early, because the Serb is hard to catch once he gets ahead.

Djokovic looked flat. The tournament's report said he appeared to struggle physically in his sixth match in 10 days, and that Hurkacz looked the fresher player, even though Hurkacz had reached the Chengdu final the week before and then retired from his Beijing semi-final against Alex de Minaur with an adductor injury.

Highlights of Djokovic v Hurkacz, from the ATP Tour's official YouTube channel.

Djokovic: almost impossible to return

Djokovic did not hide from it. He said one lost service game per set was enough to lose against Hurkacz, and that he did not adjust to a tough opening draw.

It is very difficult to return his serve, almost impossible.

Novak Djokovic, after the match, via the Shanghai Masters' official report

He called it an early exit but said he was fine with it after a great week in Beijing, where he came from a set down to beat Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, and that he now wants to rest before the indoor season. The tournament's report put him at 19-7 for the season.

What comes next

Hurkacz is on an eight-match winning streak in Shanghai and plays Lorenzo Musetti or the home wild card Zhou Yi in the third round. According to the tournament's report, he became the fourth player with a hard-court win over each of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, after Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic's next scheduled event is the Paris Masters in November. He said he would like to play the Nitto ATP Finals, and that he is planning only on Paris, "so let's see". The tournament's report placed him ninth in the Race to Turin, which keeps him in contention for a place.