Novak Djokovic makes worrying statement after Shanghai Masters victory over Zizou Bergs | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic revealed he was “trying to stay alive” during his Shanghai Masters quarter-final victory over Zizou Bergs. Djokovic confirmed his participation in an 80th Masters semi-final with a win over the Belgian, but admitted the conditions were testing throughout.

The temperatures have been the talk of the tournament so far, with Holger Rune claiming – tongue in cheek – the ATP were waiting for a “player to die on court” by not having any heat regulations. Regardless, as has been the case in Shanghai so far, Djokovic rolled back the years and kept alive hopes of a first Masters 1000 triumph since 2023.

Speaking on court, he said: “[I had to give] pretty much everything, just trying to stay alive on the court. First encounter with Bergs, great guy and a lot of firepower in his game. I tried to make him miss the ball, that’s what happened. I was a little bit too passive. Challenging conditions for all the players. Just trying to stay alive and overcome this hurdle.”

With the outside evening temperatures still hovering at around 30 degrees Celsius by the time the players took to the court, it was always going to be a taxing evening for the 38-year-old. Even still, the veteran dug deep and produced some of his best stuff all week, winning the opening set by virtue of a break in the sixth game.

Djokovic had spurned the chance of a second break in the previous set, but Bergs managed to drag himself back and take the point himself. It counted for little though, as Djokovic didn’t once look like crumbling when the ball was in hand for the set.

While his shots remained imperious, Djokovic had shown signs of struggling physically, even collapsing to his haunches after securing a hard-fought point earlier in the first. As was the case in his round-of-16 clash against Jaume Munar, the Serb found another gear and looked relatively comfortable throughout the second.

He had to wait a little longer for the break of serve though, with it coming during the ninth game of the set. Needing just the one game on his serve, it felt like it would be a procession to yet another semi-final for the 24-time Slam winner, only for Zizou the showman to fire back himself. A simple flash into open court did the damage, with Djokovic ruing the missed opportunity.

Not one to be shown up though, Djokovic survived five overhead chances for Bergs to break, leaving himself, once again, one game from the last four. Three match points came and went before Djokovic eventually got across the line, with the two players sharing a warm embrace across the net.