For three days, Novak Djokovic looked untouchable again. He lifted his seventh China Open trophy on Tuesday and extended his perfect record in Beijing to 34-0, collecting the 102nd tour-level title of his career. It was a week that suggested the 39-year-old still had plenty left, even as his run to the trophy ended with a retirement from Alex de Minaur in the final. Shanghai, however, was never going to be as forgiving.

On Friday, the 10th seed lost 4-6, 3-6 to Hubert Hurkacz in the round of 64 of the Shanghai Masters. The match lasted just 1 hour and 28 minutes, during which Hurkacz hit 13 aces and converted two of the five break points he earned. On the other hand, Djokovic earned two break point opportunities on Pole’s serve but could not convert either of them.

Due to an adductor injury, Hurkacz had also retired from his Beijing semifinal against De Minaur just days earlier, making his strong performance in Shanghai a notable turnaround and Djokovic’s loss more difficult to explain. Djokovic, though, did not look for excuses later on.

“I wasn’t close to what I was playing in Beijing,” the Serbian stated in the press conference. “I’m slightly more tired, not fresh. Hubi was serving very big and, you know, I didn’t feel myself on the court in terms of feeling the ball. It’s super quick surface, completely different from Beijing.”

The four-time champion added that losing his serve once in each set had proved decisive, while Hurkacz’s powerful delivery left him with few opportunities to respond.

“Yeah, if you lose your serve, it’s enough to lose the match, just once per set.” Djokovic added. “That’s what happened. It’s very difficult to return his serve, almost impossible, he was serving big. So, yeah, I didn’t adjust, and it was a really tough draw for me to play him in the first match here.”

Still, Djokovic wasn’t feeling all too well, either. Serving at 4-5, he came under pressure in the 10th game, allowing Hubert Hurkacz to convert his second break point and take the opening set. He then told his team that his right arm and shoulder were trembling and admitted he did not know what to do.

While Djokovic stayed competitive after returning to the court, Hurkacz broke him in the fourth game of the second set and consolidated the advantage to lead 4-1. The Serbian’s body language clearly suggested he was struggling, as Hurkacz got his first victory over Djokovic, cutting the Serbian’s head-to-head lead to 8–1.

It was Djokovic’s sixth match in a span of just ten days. Considering his comments earlier, it was bound to take a toll. After requesting a medical timeout earlier in the China Open series, he had detailed how the season has become a “big, big struggle” for him.

“Most of the matches and tournaments this year that I’ve played have been a real, real struggle for me physically. That’s nothing to do with stamina. People mix it up. It’s not stamina. It’s something else. More related to ​health,” he said.

The surface is what provides an added factor, as this year’s Court Pace Index in Shanghai has improved to 42.26, approximately 10 points higher than in 2025. The speed has not been this high since 2017, when it reached 43. Players had criticized the courts for being too slow, and the tournament has clearly responded.

The decline from 42.4 in 2024 to 32.8 in 2025 brought along a debate that organizers were ‘slowing down’ to make it easier for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, as reported by Sports Illustrated. Alexander Zverev, too, made that argument after his first win in Shanghai last October. 

“I hate when it’s the same, to be honest,” he said, arguing that tennis needs more variety in game styles.

Now, the change was always expected to help big servers, and Hurkacz is the ideal beneficiary. He won this title here in 2023 and is one of the biggest servers on the tour. Against the Serb, Hurkacz won 82% of the points (36 of 44) on his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. And the victory has placed him in a select group, making him the fourth player to beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at least once on hard courts, joining Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

The loss now impacts Djokovic for the rest of the season. He sits ninth in the race to Turin, just outside the eight qualifying spots. Djokovic has said he plans to play only the Paris Masters next, which begins on 2 November. 

“I’m planning only to play in Paris or, let’s see. Hopefully, I can have a good result there,” he said. Paris now looks like his only realistic route back to Turin.