The 1000-pointer Shanghai Masters brought almost every tennis star to the court. And you knew each and every round would be intense, especially with the ATP Finals just a month away. But no one expected the weather to become such a big factor. The severe, hot, and humid conditions have left the players grinding and suffering, with big casualties like Jannik Sinner already. And it looks like Novak Djokovic is barely surviving himself, from what we can see.

The Serbian was pushed in his 3rd round match by Yannick Hanfmann, while the weather did its best to break the 24-time Grand Slam champion and 4-time Shanghai champion. Jose Moron, the director of Punto De Break, a Spanish tennis website, shared a short clip from the match on X on October 6. You can see Novak Djokovic vomiting and throwing up on more than one occasion on the court.

Once during a game, once during a changeover, Djokovic barely held himself together, and he even had to change his game, shortening the rallies a bit to cope with the draining heat and the oppressive humidity in Shanghai. During the match, the average temperature in Shanghai was reported to be hovering around 30°C, and the humidity was 70%, which are not ideal conditions.

Since Novak Djokovic had gotten his campaign started for what would be his 5th Shanghai Masters win, he has been battling the punishing weather. After the win against Marin Cilic in the R64, the Serbian said, “It’s crazy humid, to be honest. I don’t recall the weather being so humid in China,” as reported by ATP Tour’s website on October 3.

In the on-court interview after the Hanfmann match, Djokovic reiterated the same point. “I’ve been saying it before … it’s brutal when you have over 80% of humidity day after day, for the guys, particularly when they’re playing during the day with heat, with sun, you know, it’s even, even more brutal.” Also, being him, the oldest in the tournament at 38 years old is not a point in his favor in these conditions. “For me, biologically a bit more challenging to deal with it,” Djokovic said.

It’s his attention to his body and the way he has taken care of himself to prolong his longevity that is paying dividends. But while Djokovic has managed to survive, others have already fallen victim to the harsh conditions.

Novak Djokovic leads the complaints amidst injuries, fatigue, and retirements

Before the tournament started, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz announced that he would be skipping the 1000-ATP points event. And he was joined by Jack Draper. But still, the Masters promised exciting clashes with Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Lorenzo Musetti, and other stars, making it a high-profile event.

Well, the R16 still hasn’t started, and the majority of the names are out of the competition. Fritz, Zverev, Shelton, and Tiafoe have all lost their matches. While Ruud retired from his R64 match. And the biggest shock was Jannik Sinner, who would have been a formidable hurdle for Novak Djokovic here, retiring in the R32 match against Tallon Griekspoor. The score was 7-6, 5-7, 2-3, with the Frenchman serving, when cramps signalled the end of the journey for the World No. 2 in Shanghai.

Joining them was Stephanos Tsitsipas, who withdrew from the tournament hours before his first match, citing a physical issue. The 2025 Shanghai Masters has been a sucker punch for the tennis players, with the fans blaming the schedule congestion for so many injuries, mid-match retirements, and the dire condition of the players. And they are only backing the complaints being raised repeatedly by the players.

In fact, Novak Djokovic has even slammed his colleagues on the Tour for not being more vocal about the congested scheduling. “They make the comments, complain, and then go away. And if something is wrong after a certain amount of time, they come back again,” the Serbian said, complaining about the lack of unity among the players to sit together and address the issues.

The elongation of the duration of the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000 events is one of the decisions that have made the tennis calendar longer, and it’s the players who are bearing the physical brunt of it. And now, the Shanghai weather has presented a new kind of challenge.