Djokovic on his defeat against Vacherot in Shanghai: "The best player won"

Le 11/10/2025 à 12h59 par Adrien Guyot

Novak Djokovic gave it his all, but the Serbian fell in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000 against surprise guest Valentin Vacherot, who qualified for the final.

Djokovic will not win his 41st Masters 1000 title in Shanghai. The Serbian, despite a good run, was stopped in the semifinals after his defeat to Valentin Vacherot (6-3, 6-4).

Although he did not seem to be in his best physical form, the former world number one, now 38 years old and seeking a fifth crown in this tournament, did not want to make excuses and acknowledged the superiority of his opponent.

"I want to congratulate Valentin (Vacherot) on his first Masters 1000 final. After going through qualifying, it's an incredible story. I told him at the net that he had an incredible tournament, but above all that he had an excellent attitude and that he also played incredibly well.

Everything should revolve around him. I wish him good luck in the final, he is the best player who won today," he stated according to comments collected by our colleagues at Univers Tennis.

Weak gamesmanship from Novak, who has a long history of this. Wants everyone to know he is "hurt" after each point he loses, but can somehow manage to run like a deer during the point. Weak...very weak. So glad Vacherot won. Congrats!

Why should he hang up his racket when he’s still doing so well? It doesn’t matter that he’s not #1 not wins every match. He’s still doing incredibly well! No one expects him to be at the top forever, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not still a player to be reckoned with, who every player still fears

of course, not an iota of doubt over it

I guess players are seeing thru his games he plays. It's time for him to hang up his racket.

Finally, we get proof how bitter and arrogant Rafael and Roger were when they lost. They could never do what Novak did, which is to be gracious and humble in defeat.