The ultimate Novak Djokovic tennis moment of the fall, and perhaps the year, occurred late in his quarterfinal win over Zizou Bergs at the Shanghai Masters.

Bergs was serving at 5-5, 30-30 in the second set, having broken Djokovic, who had been serving for the match, in the previous game. Given the hot and humid conditions in China’s biggest city, and the 38-year-old’s cavalcade of physical issues, getting the match done in two sets felt reasonably vital for Djokovic.

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By the third shot of the point, though, Bergs had his opponent on the ropes, sending him scrambling to his left to retrieve a hard forehand. Djokovic threw up a defensive lob. Bergs got underneath it and sent an overhead back, though not a great one. And then the same thing happened again. And again. And again, off a forehand this time. And again, off an overhead, which Djokovic somehow squat-paddled away with an awkward survival shot that had the Belgian moving to his right.

Still, now Bergs had a short forehand sitter to put away. And unlike the other balls, this one had bounced, which should have made it easier than all the others. Of course, he missed it wide. Point Djokovic, who had the crowd back in the palm of his hand, ready to break Bergs and serve out the match in the next game.

The guy just doesn’t go away. And when he’s engaged, happy, somewhere he wants to be and not facing an opponent named either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, he usually figures out a way to win.

Djokovic being Djokovic, he had an experiential edge from going deep in Shanghai so many times before, making the tournament’s semifinals in 11 of his 14 appearances and winnin