Novak Djokovic says Federer ‘played everything he wanted to play’ in 2014 Shanghai win

Roger Federer ended Novak Djokovic’s impressive winning run in China with a semi-final victory at the Shanghai Masters.

The win came against an opponent who had won the tournament three times. Federer didn’t drop a set in their 6-4, 6-4 meeting.

Djokovic had won two of those titles in 2012 and 2013, but Federer stopped him from making it three in a row with that straight-set win at the ATP 1000 event in 2014.

The loss ended Djokovic’s run of 28 straight wins in China, but he didn’t let that stop him from giving credit to Federer afterwards.

How did Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic?

Federer used an attacking approach throughout the match and served well to avoid giving up too many opportunities to Djokovic. He also took advantage of several unforced errors from his opponent. The match wasn’t as close as the scoreline suggested.

That loss to Federer was only Djokovic’s fourth on hard courts during that year, which speaks volumes about how impressive Roger’s performance was. And while Roger is now retired, Nole continues to play at a high level and will be looking for revenge against Holger Rune after losing their last meeting at last year’s Paris Masters final.

Novak Djokovic said Roger Federer played the ‘perfect’ match against him at the 2014 Shanghai Masters

Djokovic has won the Shanghai Masters four times in his career, more than anybody else in the tournament’s history since the inaugural event in 2009.

Despite falling to a streak-ending loss, Djokovic conceded that his arch-rival was the better man on the day.

“I think I did not play too bad,” said Djokovic, who lost to Federer three times that year, including at Dubai and Monte Carlo.