Novak Djokovic struggled with injury and the hot conditions throughout his run to the Shanghai Masters semi-final, raising questions over his participation at the upcoming 6 Kings Slam.
For now, Djokovic only has two events left on his calendar, the exhibition 6 Kings Slam and the Hellenic Championships in Greece, but given his woes at the ATP Masters 1000 event in China, he could well decide to call an early end to his 2025 season.
Playing in his first tournament since losing in the last four of the US Open against Jannik Sinner at the start of September, the world No 5 defeated Marin Cilic and Yannick Hanfmann in his first two matches to set up a clash against Jaume Munar.
He needed three sets to beat the Spaniard and looked a spent force most of the match as he took a medical timeout to receive treatment to his leg, while he also vomited on court as the humid conditions took its toll.
With age no longer on his side, the 38-year-old was also troubled during his win over Zizou Bergs in the quarter-final and it was a similar story against qualifier Valentin Vacherot in the last four.
At times, the drenched Djokovic was unable to chase down balls and eventually lost 6-3, 6-4 as the Monagasque player became one of the lowest-ranked players to defeat the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
After the match, the former world No 1 refused to answer questions about his fitness and health.
When asked “Can you talk about your physical condition?” the answer was short and he simply stated, “No. Next question, please”.
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Besides struggling with the heat, Djokovic had a heavily strapped right shoulder and he was also troubled by a left glute problem against Vacherot.
The tennis great will have only a few days to recover as he is scheduled to be back at the 6 Kings Slam, which runs from October 15-18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This year marks the second edition of the big-paying exhibition event, where the overall winner will receive a $6m cheque ($4.5m for winning the tournament and a $1.5m appearance fee).
The good news for Djokovic is he is only set to be in action on the second day as he has gone straight into the semi-final and will face either defending champion Jannik Sinner or Stefanos Tsitsipas. The winner of that last-four clash will take Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz in the final on October 18.
If he keeps his calendar as is, he will then get an extended break after the Saudi Arabia event as his final regular ATP Tour event is the Hellenic Championships with the ATP 250 tournament starting on November 3.
Djokovic is on the cusp of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals, but so far he appears to be more out than in as he has made it clear in the past that he is not too keen on playing at the event again. Last year he opted not to defend his title in Turin.
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