Best performance: Djokovic delights in dominant Shanghai win

Djokovic won three grand slams this year, was runner-up at the French Open and since suffering a surprise quarter-final loss to Ivo Karlovic in Qatar in January has made the final of all 13 events he has played.

“I think I’ve played the best tennis ever in these two weeks in terms of back-to-back”.

“I served poorly in the first set especially”. “You can’t afford that against Novak with the way he’s playing and the conditions here”.

“When you keep on winning like this, you don’t have time to reflect on the victories, the way you have played”, he said. I just couldn’t get myself in it. Just didn’t serve well at all.

Novak Djokovic captured the ninth title of his impressive season with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.

Yet if Murray looked a shadow of the player who brushed aside the sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych in the previous round, it should also be acknowledged that he was facing one of the sternest tests in sport. Tsonga showed huge determination and composure to win the first set through a tie-breaker, trailing 3-6 at one point.

“Energy-wise, I was great”.

At a packed Qi Zhong Stadium, Nadal slipped and fell in the very first game to hand Tsonga break points, and he misfired a routine smash in the fifth to give the Frenchman another opportunity.

The world No 15 impressively refused to be bullied anymore, finding a rhythm with his serve and a place for his powerful forehand as the second set proved far more competitive.

“But then again, I started to read his serve a little bit better, started to move him around the court”. So for me it was very, very important this first set and after I think I was dead.

He won six China Open titles, three Shanghai Masters title and one Masters Cup title overall.

“I feel good. To be honest, the season was hard with a lot of ups and downs”, Tsonga added.

On the WTA Tour, former world number one Jelena Jankovic took the Hong Kong Open as she beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber 3-6 7-6 6-1 in a thrilling final.

Murray and Djokovic have dominated the Shanghai Masters over the past few years, winning two titles apiece between 2010 and 2013.

“I knew he was going to come out on the court and take the ball early, be aggressive and I protected the baseline well”.