Three days after winning the 102nd title in his professional career in the Beijing tournament, Serbian Novak Djokovic, ranked eighth in the world, bid farewell to the Shanghai Thousand Point Tennis Masters tournament, on Friday, in his first match in the second round.
Polish Hubert Hurkacz defeated Novak Djokovic for the first time, and ousted the four-time champion of the Shanghai Tennis Masters Championship, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Serbian in the second round on Friday.
Djokovic, ranked tenth in the tournament, arrived in Shanghai after winning the China Open for the seventh time, which is a record, after Australian Alex de Minaur withdrew from the final match, Tuesday, due to a thigh injury.
Djokovic, who won 24 major tournament titles and his last title was in Shanghai in 2018, won eight times without any defeat in his previous confrontations with Hurkacz (29 years old). But the Pole, formerly ranked sixth in the world, gave an outstanding performance, playing 13 aces and 28 winners while not losing much on his serve, defeating Djokovic after one hour and 27 minutes in his first appearance in Shanghai since winning the title in 2023.
This loss represents the latest setback for the 39-year-old Serbian in a difficult season, which witnessed his sudden exit in the first round of the US Open, which is the fastest defeat he has suffered in the four major tournaments since the Australian Open in 2006.
“The Giant” Victor Wimbanyama appeared in good condition and was highly prepared despite the defeat and limited playing time, in his first participation after returning to the ranks of the San Antonio Spurs during a preparatory match against the Atlanta Hawks, a return that came 3 months after his loss in the final of the American Basketball League (NBA).
The 22-year-old Frenchman played on the floor of the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio for 17 minutes during the first half, scoring 9 points and adding 6 rebounds.
Thanks to his movements and enthusiastic performance, the tall player (2.24 meters) ignited the enthusiasm of the crowd in Texas when he received an air pass from his teammate Stephon Castle, turned in the air, and scored a spectacular basket.
His three-pointer and his success in recovering the ball defensively, in addition to the brilliant performance of his teammate Dylan Harper, who scored 16 points in 19 minutes, to which he added 4 rebounds and a steal, contributed to giving the Spurs a 67-62 lead at the end of the first half, after being ahead by 19 points at the end of the first quarter.
Wembanyama spent the second half of the match on the bench, and center player Luke Cornet replaced him for a quarter of an hour. Then coach Mitch Johnson rotated the lineup and rested the prominent players, led by “Wimpy.”
The Atlanta Hawks took advantage of this situation to come back and win the pre-season match with a score of 123-116.
Spurs player David Jones gave a remarkable performance by scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in 15 minutes, and young newcomer Carter Bryant (20 years old), who was chosen by the team in the “Draft” for the year 2025, contributed by scoring 11 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.
Last season, Imbanyama was crowned the best defender and came in third place in the league's best player award.
The San Antonio Spurs are scheduled to play 4 more preparatory matches before the start of the new season on October 20, when they will face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Spurs had finished the 2025-2026 regular season with the second-best record in the league behind Oklahoma, with 62 wins and 20 defeats.
Thanks to Wimbanyama's brilliance, the team is considered one of the most prominent candidates to compete for the title this season, after stumbling at the final threshold last year by losing to the New York Knicks 1-4 in the final series.
British George Russell, driver of the Mercedes team, competing in the Formula 1 World Championship, topped the only free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix, on Friday.
The free trial for the race, which takes place on Sunday, took place before the start of the free trial for the speed race, which will be held later on Friday.
Russell recorded the fastest time during the experiment. He reached one minute and 32.274 seconds, 0.198 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari driver, while British champion Lando Norris (defending champion), McLaren driver, came in third place.
As for Italian Kimi Antonelli, driver of the Mercedes team, who leads the overall standings in the drivers’ category, he came in seventh place, behind Dutchman Max Verstappen, driver of Red Bull.
Verstappen's experience, who won the Bahrain Grand Prix that took place in Malaysia last Sunday, was affected by a problem with his radio, which led to him staying off the track for most of the time of the experience.
Antonelli leads the overall standings by 84 points over his teammate Russell, with 7 races remaining until the end of the current season.
In another context, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) revealed that smoke resulting from forest fires in Indonesia does not pose any threat to the Singapore race.
However, the federation explained that if air pollution worsens, restrictions may be imposed on outdoor activities, which will mainly affect entertainment options, while their impact will be less on the maintenance area and the racetrack.
