Novak Djokovic missed the opportunity to claim the 100th title of his stellar career as Jannik Sinner won a high-quality Shanghai Masters final.
World number one Sinner, 23, continued his dominant form this season with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory over the 37-year-old Serb.
Djokovic was aiming to become only the third man - after Jimmy Connors (109) and the watching Roger Federer (103) - to chalk up a ton of titles.
"I have got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future," said 24-time major champion Djokovic, whose only title this year has been the Olympic gold which had been eluding him.
"It's not a live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I've achieved all of my biggest goals in my career.
"Right now it's really about Slams and about seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself."
Sinner, who continues to have a doping case lingering in the background despite being initially cleared of wrongdoing, played impeccably to pick up his seventh title of a remarkable year.
The Italian, whose successes have included the Australian Open and US Open, has won 65 of his 71 matches in 2024.
Djokovic was aiming to become only the third man - after Jimmy Connors (109) and the watching Roger Federer (103) - to chalk up a ton of titles.
"I have got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future," said 24-time major champion Djokovic, whose only title this year has been the Olympic gold which had been eluding him.
"It's not a live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I've achieved all of my biggest goals in my career.
"Right now it's really about Slams and about seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself."
Sinner, who continues to have a doping case lingering in the background despite being initially cleared of wrongdoing, played impeccably to pick up his seventh title of a remarkable year.
The Italian, whose successes have included the Australian Open and US Open, has won 65 of his 71 matches in 2024.
BBC