"What are you looking at, motherf**ker?" - Novak Djokovic yells at coach, skips press conference under doctor orders in eventful Shanghai Masters win

Novak Djokovic booked his spot in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, battling the elemets and his body on the way to an eventful finish. The Serb is now the oldest man to reach the quarterfinals at a Masters 1000 event, breaking the record previously held by Roger Federer by a good two months.

On Tuesday, Djokovic took on Jaume Munar under the hot sun in Shanghai, just two days after he threw up on the court during his win over Yannick Hanfmann. The brutal heat in China has not spared any player this week, and the Serb has fared no different.

Things got worse for the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the first set, as he suffered an injury to his ankle and had to call for a medical timeout. Although he recovered to take the set, the exhaustion and heat, combined with Munar's relentless tennis sent the No. 4 seed over the edge.

At one point in the second set, he could not control his frustration, yelling at his coach Boris Bošnjaković after he issued some corrections to his tennis from the player box.

"What are you looking at, you motherf**ker?" according to Serbian translations from Sport Klub.

After losing the set in a tight battle, however, Djokovic returned better in the third set after a small medical timeout, and closed out the match 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to book his spot in the next round.

With fans eagerly awaiting what he will say in his press conference, it came to be reported that the World No. 4 had skipped them, citing illness. Notably, he did not also speak in his on-court interview. According to the reports, Djokovic was advised to skip the presser on the advice of the tournament doctors, who thought it was best to see the former World No. 1 catch some rest instead.

Novak Djokovic will take on Zizou Bergs next at Shanghai Masters

2025 Shanghai Rolex Masters - Day 9 - Source: Getty

Following his win over Jaume Munar, Novak Djokovic will next take on Zizou Bergs in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters. Bergs is playing in his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal, and took down Casper Ruud earlier in the tournament before beating Gabriel Diallo on Tuesday.

Djokovic is now vying for his 101st career title, and the Shanghai Masters will present a great chance with the top-3 players out of the tournament already. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz withdrew with an injury, while World No. 2 Jannik Sinner retired midway through with cramps and World No. 3 Alexander Zverev crashed out with a loss to Arthur Rinderknech.

Edited by Shyam Kamal