德约科维奇上海大师赛卫冕

Novak Djokovic successfully defended his title at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, holding off Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in a 2.5 hours final.

Coming off a big win over top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, Juan Martin del Potro was looking to win his maiden Masters title at his third attempt.

Novak Djokovic though, was a different proposition.A thrashing appeared likely when Djokovic raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set by dictating play with precise groundstrokes and keeping a sluggish del Potro on the defensive.

But the momentum shifted in the second set when del Potro broke Djokovic to take an early lead, then played a magnificent game to save three break points to hold for 5-2 before closing out the set.

The Argentine appeared to tire slightly as the third set wore on. Djokovic had two match points on del Potro’s serve at 4-5 in the set, but the Argentine saved them both. The Serb then pulled away in the tiebreaker by hitting a forehand winner to finish off a 24-shot rally to take a 4-2 lead, leaving del Potro unable to manage another comeback. 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) the final result.

Djokovic captures a second Shanghai Masters title. The Serb completed a back-to-back sweep of titles at the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters for the second straight year. He’s now captured seven titles overall in China - the most he’s won in any country.

"Here, the centre court played a little bit faster than the one in Beijing. But it is quite suitable to my style of game. Makes me a bit more aggressive, use my serve. And I am just thrilled with the performances these two weeks," said Djokovic.