“I Didn’t Adjust”- Novak Djokovic Falls to Hubert Hurkacz 3 Days After China Open Win As Shanghai Conditions Change

For three days, Novak Djokovic looked untouchable again. He lifted a seventh China Open trophy on Tuesday, extended his perfect record in Beijing to 34-0 and collected the 102nd title of his career. It was a week that suggested the 39-year-old still had plenty left, even though his run to the trophy ended with a retirement from Alex de Minaur in the final. Shanghai, however, was never going to be as forgiving.

On Friday, the 10th seed lost 6-4, 6-3 to Hubert Hurkacz in the round of 64 of the Shanghai Masters. The match lasted just 1 hour and 28 minutes, during which Hurkacz hit 13 aces and converted two of the five break points he earned. On the other hand, Djokovic had earned two break point opportunities on Pole’s serve but could not convert either of them. Hurkacz had also retired from his Beijing semifinal against De Minaur just days earlier, making the victory even more difficult to explain. But Djokovic did not look for excuses later on.

“I wasn’t close to what I was playing in Beijing,” the Serbian stated in the press conference. “I’m slightly more tired, not fresh. Hubi was serving very big and, you know, I didn’t feel myself on the court in terms of feeling the ball. It’s super quick surface, completely different from Beijing.”

The four-time Shanghai Masters champion felt that one lost service game per set was enough to decide the contest, and he could not find an answer on the other side of the net. 

September 27, 2026, Beijing, China: Novak Djokovic of Serbia seen in action during a practice session ahead of China Open at the National Tennis Center. Beijing China – ZUMAs197 20260927_aaa_s197_512 Copyright: xPolyxFeix

“Yeah, if you lose your serve, it’s enough to lose the match, just once per set.” Djokovic added. “That’s what happened. It’s very difficult to return his serve, almost impossible, he was serving big. So, yeah, I didn’t adjust, and it was a really tough draw for me to play him in the first match here.”

Hurkacz had never beaten Djokovic before, and the Pole registered his first win against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, making the lopsided head-to-head 8-1. The 29-year-old Pole had lost all of his last eight matches, and finally broke through in straight sets on a surface that supported his game. 

The margins were thin, with only two breaks of serve separating the players, but Hurkacz took more of his chances. The surface is where the loss becomes more than a one-off upset as it turns into a story about conditions, and that’s where the match started to slip away from Djokovic’s grasp.

Shanghai’s faster courts changed the equation for Djokovic

This year’s Court Pace Index in Shanghai has improved to 42.26, approximately 10 points higher than in 2025. The speed has not been this high since 2017, when it reached 43. Players had criticized the courts for being too slow, and the tournament has clearly responded. The change was always expected to help big servers.

August 30, 2026, New York, New York, USA: NOVAK DJOKOVIC of Serbia during the match against Mariano Navone of Argentina in the first round of Grand Slam tournament US Open. New York USA – ZUMAc278 20260830_zsp_c278_003 Copyright: xMarcinxCholewinskix

The decline from 42.4 in 2024 to 32.8 in 2025 brought a debate that organizers were ‘slowing down’ to make it easier for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, as reported by Sports Illustrated. Alexander Zverev made that argument after his first win in Shanghai last October. 

“I hate when it’s the same, to be honest,” he said, arguing that tennis needs more variety in game styles. Djokovic is on the other side of that argument as a baseline player forced to pay for the faster conditions.

Hurkacz is the ideal beneficiary. He won this title here in 2023 and is one of the biggest servers on the tour. Djokovic, on the other hand, had come off a Beijing title victory and was left with a couple of days of rest before playing at a different speed. The combination of those two things meant he had a match where he didn’t get the margins he normally would.

The loss also impacts him for the rest of the season. He sits ninth in the race to Turin, just outside the eight qualifying spots. Djokovic has said he plans to play only the Paris Masters next, which begins on 2 November. 

“I’m planning only to play in Paris or, let’s see. Hopefully, I can have a good result there,” he said. Paris now looks like his only realistic route back to Turin.

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