Novak Djokovic wins Shanghai Masters for ninth tennis title this year

Novak Djokovic wore a red shirt in his matches at the Shanghai Masters this week to connect with his Chinese fans and perhaps give himself a little boost.

“I know it’s a lucky national color, so it’s my lucky charm,” he said.

With the way he dominated, he didn’t need any luck.

Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-2, 6-4, to capture the ninth title of his impressive season in Shanghai on Sunday, a week after he triumphed at the China Open in Beijing for the sixth time in six appearances.

He didn’t drop a set at either tournament, only once being pushed to a tiebreaker, and extended his winning streak to 17 straight matches dating back to his championship run at the U.S. Open.

“This has been the best two weeks of my life, my career,” the top-ranked Serb said. “Energy-wise, I was great. I didn’t get tired. I always had plenty of intensity, concentration, a high performance level from the first match in Beijing to today’s match.”

Tsonga came into the match leading the tournament with 64 aces, but Djokovic returned so effectively that he broke the Frenchman three times and held him to zero aces in the opening set.

Tsonga played more aggressively in the second set, but still had to fight off five break points until Djokovic was finally able to convert on his sixth when the Frenchman double-faulted while serving at 4-all. Djokovic then served out the match.

“Today, there is nothing to say. He’s playing a lot better than everybody,” Tsonga said. “You have to be in your best shape to beat him anyway, and everybody knows that it’s not easy to play your best tennis every match.”

Djokovic has traditionally played well during the Asian swing following the U.S. Open when other players are either nursing injuries or tired after a long season. In terms of the quality of his tennis in China this year, though, the Serb said he’s never felt as confident.

“I mean, only one set where I got a tiebreak in two weeks is quite incredible,” he said. “So I’m very, very pleased with the way I’ve played.”

Jankovic, Radwanska win women’s titles

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia rallied to beat Angelique Kerber, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, in the Hong Kong Open final, putting on hold the German’s hopes of playing in the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore. Jankovic earned her 15th WTA Tour win . . .

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-1, 6-2, in the final of the WTA event at Tianjin, China. . . . Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia beat Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany, 6-4, 6-3, to win the Generali Open at Linz, Austria.