Novak Djokovic made history after becoming the oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the Thousand Points Championship by defeating Belgian Zizo Burgess 6-3, 7-5.
Djokovic overcame early injury concerns when he grabbed his left Achilles tendon and appeared to be suffering from fatigue after Tuesday’s marathon round-of-16 win over Jaume Munar, but he regained his rhythm and overcame his opponent.
The 38-year-old will face Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot on Saturday, live Sky Sports Tennisafter the 204th ranked player in the world continued his wonderful career by defeating Holger Rohn 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 on Thursday.
Djokovic is the favorite to win the 41st ATP 1000 tournament, as Carlos Alcaraz did not enter the tournament and Jannik Sinner withdrew in the third round due to a muscle strain.
The other quarter-final matches will witness Daniil Medvedev facing Alex de Minaur, and Arthur Renderkneich facing Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday.
“(It took) almost everything,” said Djokovic, who last won the Masters in October 2023. “I was trying to survive on the court to be honest.”
“My first meeting with Burgess. He’s a great guy. He’s got a lot of firepower in his game. Sometimes I just tried to play an extra ball to make him miss the ball. The conditions are very difficult in these few weeks for all the players.”
Novak Djokovic is favorite to win in Shanghai after his impressive quarter-final win
Burgess showed no signs of nerves as he played the first four matches with Djokovic, who was not moving at his full potential, constantly bending between points and looking exhausted in the wet conditions.
Djokovic needed treatment on the Achilles tendon area and his left leg in the third round but played through the pain and began to get the better of Burgess.
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A remarkable run saw Jaume Munar win the second set as Novak Djokovic struggled with fatigue in harsh Shanghai conditions on Tuesday.
He broke the Belgian’s serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, then, crucially, saved three break points to hold in the next game. Burgess’s inconsistent serve gave Djokovic three set points but he fought his way out of trouble with three aces to extend the first set, but that was only consolation for Djokovic.
The second set was tense as Djokovic only managed to break through in the ninth game to lead 5-4 but Burgess continued to break serve, with both players putting on a show for the crowd with exciting exchanges and landing shots.
But Djokovic broke his serve for the second time and did not miss the chance to win the match the second time, requesting a place in the Shanghai semi-finals for the tenth time.
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