Novak Djokovic brushed aside Marco Cecchinato, to reach the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000, where he will meet the giant South African, Kevin Anderson. “I faced one break point only today and no break points in the first match, so I’m really pleased with the way I have been using my serve accurately and effectively in the first two matches, which is very important, this kind of surface that’s really quick”, said Djokovic.

Djokovic also announced that he has set his sights on the year end world number one crown, and is going to do whatever it takes to get there. “I mean, there is no doubt about that, now that I put myself in a position to fight for No. 1”, said Djokovic. “Obviously, you know, I’m going to try to do everything I can to get to No. 1. That’s one of the, probably “the” biggest goal of the end of the season”, he added.

Nole was also re-elected as the player council’s president. Well, I’m grateful to the fellow council members for reelecting me again, you know, giving me that trust. I will try to do my very best to contribute as much as I can”, said Djokovic. “As a top player for many years, I feel like there is a lot of areas where I can contribute with my name and, you know, success behind and attention that I get from media, you know, in order to put forward certain things that we are discussing or that needs to be out there”, he added.

Djokovic has in the past often voiced his opinions that players in tennis do not get paid enough, a topic which he spoke on as well. “I don’t want it to sound like I’m complaining. I think the sport is in a very good place. That’s due to, you know, many of the generations throughout the history of our sport that paved the way for us and of course a lot of active players, including, you know, Roger and Rafa and Andy, that have been part of the council, as well”, he continued. “So we are all in the same shape. We all try to work together with tournaments. Obviously ATP structure is such that you have, you know, 50% of the ownership goes to tournaments; 50% is players. So a lot of times it’s conflict of interest and it’s not as simple to reach some consensus.”