'I still plan to compete and play next season,' says Djokovic

Shanghai: Novak Djokovic insisted on Sunday that he plans to compete and play next season despite suffering another loss at the hands of world numbe...

Shanghai: Novak Djokovic insisted on Sunday that he plans "to compete and play next season" despite suffering another loss at the hands of world number one Jannik Sinner.

The 37-year-old Serb, the holder of a men's record 24 Grand Slam titles, went down 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to the Italian in the final of the Shanghai Masters.

It was Djokovic's third defeat in his last four clashes against the Australian Open and US Open champion.

However, Djokovic said he has no intention of following career-long rival Rafael Nadal into retirement even though he endured by his own admission "one of the worst-performing seasons in terms of results".

"I don't know what the future brings, I'll just try to kind of go with the flow to see how I feel in a given moment but I still plan to compete and play next season," he told reporters.