Novak Djokovic wins Shanghai Masters to close in on world number one spot

Novak Djokovic won the Shanghai Masters for the fourth time after a convincing 6-3 6-4 victory over surprise finalist Borna Coric in China.

Djokovic secured his fourth success at the tournament and in the process moved a step closer to ending the year as world number one.

The Serb extended his winning run to 18 matches in China, following up his successes at Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters and US Open.

Coric, who knocked out Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer en route to his first ATP Masters series final, matched Djokovic in the early exchanges as the two players traded blow-for-blow on serve.

That was until, however, Djokovic made the breakthrough with a break in the seventh and ninth game to take the first set.

Coric again battled well in the second set and saved three match points at 5-4, with Djokovic uncharacteristically smashing an overhead volley wide.

However, the 31-year-old served out for the title, maintaining his record of not dropping serve during the week and becoming just the third player to win a Masters 1000 event without getting broken.

The victory means Djokovic is now just 35 points behind Rafa Nadal in the race to end the year as world number one.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.