Hubert Hurkacz said it was a "special night" after he finally ended his wait for a win over Novak Djokovic, upsetting the 10th seed in the second round of the Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic, who won the China Open earlier this week following back-to-back walkovers against Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, was beaten 6-4 6-3 in just 87 minutes.

Having failed to win any of his first eight ATP Tour-level matches against Djokovic, Hurkacz triumphed off the back of a trademark big-serving performance, winning 82% of his first-serve points (36/44) and firing off 13 aces.

Hurkacz avoided a first-set tie-break by finally breaking Djokovic's serve in game 10, then never looked like getting pegged back after racing into a 4-1 lead in the second set. 

"It's a special night. I've been playing Novak for like seven years and I've been unsuccessful, but he has been such a great champion for so many years," Hurkacz said afterwards. 

"Being on Tour, at the top, and he just won Beijing... so it's a very difficult ask to play against him, but it was a pleasure for me to share a court with him, to play such a legend of the sport.

"It's a lot of fun, and then you also challenge yourself, to see where your level is.

"It was definitely very important at the start to stay there with Novak, because if he gets ahead, he presents such a great level and it's not easy to come back."

Ninth time lucky  @HubertHurkacz defeats Djokovic for the first time in his career to reach the third round in Shanghai. @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters https://t.co/XmiCbVRVUz

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 9, 2026

Hurkacz will be joined in the third round by top seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Wu Yibing 6-4 7-6 (7-4) after overcoming an injury scare.

The Roland-Garros and US Open champion looked to hurt his left ankle when he fell after striking a backhand late in the second set, but he eventually got back to his feet and looked unrestricted in his movement as he saw out the victory.

Ben Shelton also progressed in straight sets against Daniel Altmaier and Frances Tiafoe overcame Yannick Hanfmann, but sixth seed Flavio Cobolli was a surprise casualty. 

The Italian went down 1-6 6-4 6-3 to Adrian Mannarino, while Jakub Mensik beat Miomir Kecmanovic and Andrey Rublev was dumped out by Rei Sakamoto.

Shanghai specialist Djokovic felled by Hurkacz

Since the event's 2009 inauguration, Djokovic has won more matches (43) and the most titles (four) of any player at the Shanghai Masters.

But his 2026 tournament was a short one as he was sent packing in impressive fashion by another former champion.

Hurkacz, who won the Shanghai Masters in 2023, now has six ATP top-20 wins in 2026, and he has won his last nine completed matches since going down to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Chengdu Open final last month (retired versus De Minaur at the China Open).

Zverev, meanwhile, has now won seven of his eight opening matches at ATP Masters 1000 events this season, with his sole defeat coming to Tallon Griekspoor in Montreal.