Former world No 4 Adriano Panatta has claimed Novak Djokovic resigned himself to “giving up” in his Shanghai Masters final defeat to Jannik Sinner.
The Italian tennis great, who has often been a harsh critic of Djokovic‘s, also insisted he has “great admiration” for the Serbian and explained he simply “loved Roger Federer more.”
Sinner downed Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 in the title match at the 2024 Shanghai Masters to level his head-to-head series with the tennis icon at 4-4. The world No 1 has beaten Djokovic three times in a row and won four of the pair’s last five meetings.
Djokovic won more points in a high-quality opening set that featured no break points, but Sinner crucially performed better in the tiebreak to edge it.
The 37-year-old’s level dropped early in the second set and he was punished by the 23-year-old Italian, who was ruthless in closing out the win for his seventh title of 2024.
Panatta lauded Sinner for his consistency this year and argued most of the Italian’s rivals struggle to match his level for more than an hour in matches.
“He won again, he confirmed this extraordinary year that he is playing in a way that is beyond belief, because it is true that he has made a lot of progress in these last months, but I must say that the continuity and the average level of play is very high,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“Even when he doesn’t play very well, with players from six and below he can never lose. When he plays well he doesn’t even lose with the first four. Then I must say that the gap now is between him, [Carlos] Alcaraz and the others.
“He plays continuously for two-three hours always at a very high level. The others play like him, but for an hour, an hour and a quarter, then they can’t keep up the pace.”
The former French Open champion reinforced his point as he asserted that the final between Sinner and Djokovic was over after the first set.
“He (Djokovic) played well, but for exactly one hour. After the first set, there was no more match, so I think that Djokovic also resigns himself to giving up,” Panatta continued.
“I believe that a player like him, who was probably the best of all time in terms of results, is not a player who can allow himself to leave the court, I don’t say humiliated, but with a good beating from Sinner.
“I’m a little sorry, because I have great admiration for Djokovic. I always say that I didn’t love Djokovic, but that’s not true. I loved [Roger] Federer more.”
