Djokovic waters tree, meditates and feels love in China

Oct 09, 2018
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Djokovic waters tree, meditates and feels love in China

Published Oct 09, 2018

Novak Djokovic arrived to a hero's welcome in Shanghai before taking out Jeremy Chardy in his opening round on Tuesday.

Shanghai is the 31-year-old’s first ATP Masters 1000 since becoming the first player in history to achieve the Career Golden Masters. By winning Cincinnati, he finally captured all nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in his career.

The world No. 2 made the rounds in Shanghai, including an Asics event that did not let him leave empty-handed.

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And a Lacoste appearance that made him feel like a potential cast member of Top Gun...

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He made time for outdoor workouts...

Meditation...

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And even tree watering...

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Ahead of his first match, Djokovic practiced with top seed and defending champion Roger Federer.

Both Federer and Djokovic sit more than 1,000 points behind current world No.1 Rafael Nadal, who has held the top spot in the rankings for 16 straight weeks. Just 455 points separate world No. 3 Djokovic and world No. 2 Federer.

The Swiss is defending 1,000 points from last year’s victory, while Djokovic did not participate due to an elbow injury. The race for No. 2 is on, with Juan Martin del Potro also standing a slight chance of squeezing past Djokovic and Federer.

"I am really glad that I put myself in a position to compete for No. 1 of the world," Djokovic said in Shanghai. "And maybe four, five months ago, that was looking a little bit far from reach, but with the recent results, I put myself in a pretty decent position to fight for No. 1, year-end No. 1, which of course is always one of the ultimate goals that you have as a professional tennis player."

No matter what happens, everyone will be feeling the fan love this week.

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Federer will begin his title defense on Wednesday against Tokyo champion Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic waters tree, meditates and feels love in China

Djokovic waters tree, meditates and feels love in China

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This Week on Tennis Channel Plus 10/8

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev headline the ATP Rolex Shanghai Masters. Watch live coverage from 5 courts on Tennis Channel PLUS beginning Saturday 10/6 at 12:00am ET.

Race to ATP Tour Finals on Tennis Channel Plus

The Race to the ATP Finals is heating up. Watch all the action on Tennis Channel PLUS.

Live coverage from Shanghai, Basel, Vienna & Paris all lead into the ATP World Tour Finals this November!