Novak Djokovic’s future in tennis has been a big talking point since the 2025 US Open, but the legendary Serbian’s return to action has been confirmed.
The world No 4 will play for the first time since his US Open semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz earlier this month at the Shanghai Masters, which will be held from October 1-12.
Djokovic will compete at the Shanghai Masters for the second consecutive year, having reached the final at the 2024 edition, where he lost to Jannik Sinner.
The 38-year-old has won a record four titles at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, having triumphed in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. In addition, he won his maiden ATP Finals title in Shanghai in 2008.
He’s back
Our 4-time champ, @DjokerNole will return to Shanghai this year!#RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/PaF2DPfcM5
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) September 23, 2025
The Serbian is also a six-time champion at the China Open — the ATP 500 event in Beijing he last played in 2015.
Djokovic’s appearance at last year’s Shanghai Masters ended a five-year absence from China, with his previous appearance coming at the 2019 edition of the same event.
No ATP Tour events were held in China between 2020 and 2022 due to Covid-19 restrictions, while Djokovic opted not to play when tennis returned to the country in 2023.
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After Djokovic’s straight-set defeat to Alcaraz at the US Open, he was asked about his plans until the 2026 Australian Open.
“That’s far. Australia is far. I mean, I mean, at least at this stage of my career. I mean, I’m not thinking that far, to be honest,” Djokovic said.
“I don’t know. I’m planning to play Athens tournament, that’s for sure. But other than that, it’s really still a question mark where I’m going to go and what I’m going to do.”
In the same press conference, Djokovic admitted he favours his chances of beating Alcaraz and Sinner in the best-of-three set format compared to best-of-five at Grand Slams at this stage of his career.
“I mean, I still want to play Grand Slams, Grand Slam season, full Grand Slam season next year,” the 24-time major champion explained.
“Well, let’s see whether that’s going to happen or not. But, you know, because Slams are Slams, you know, they are just different from any other tournament. They are the pillars of our sport, the most important tournaments we have.
“But yeah, I do fancy my chances a bit more in best of three, you know, I guess one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches. So, you know, that could, that could serve me better in the matchups against them.”
Djokovic reached the semi-finals at all four majors in 2025, while he secured his most recent — and record-extending 24th — Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open.
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