There could be no place more appropriate for Djokovic to finally break free of his tie with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles titles than in her own backyard at Melbourne Park, where he has won the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup 10 times.
Frances Tiafoe launched into a foul-mouthed tirade directed at a chair umpire after the American received a time violation and then lost to Roman Safiullin in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
Sharapova was broken in the first game but fought back to draw level before going on to take the first set with a hold to love.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recorded a first win over Rafael Nadal in almost four years after producing some scintillating tennis to beat the Spaniard in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday. He will face Novak Djokovic in the final.
Djokovic dropped only three games against Klizan.
Djokovic looked in fine nick in Shanghai, playing with consistency throughout the tournament to reach his fifth final at the ATP Masters 1000 event
Novak Djokovic dug out a 6-7(4) 6-1 6-4 win over Czech Jakub Mensik on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, where he will face Taylor Fritz.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic, the last surviving member of tennis' "Big Four", said he does not plan on stopping any time soon but admitted that the retirement of rivals Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal has been overwhelming.
An ailing Rafael Nadal added his name to the list of upsets at the Shanghai Masters after the Spaniard suffered a 6-3, 7-6(6) loss to Feliciano Lopez in Wednesday's second round, as fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka and in-form Kei Nishikori also made early exits. Nadal's great rival Roger Federer survived a huge scare, saving five match-points before overcoming Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(7).
As Rafael Nadal prepares to ride off into the sunset after a stellar career, his fellow professionals from eras old and new agree on one thing - the Spaniard remains an inspirational role model whose legacy has shaped tennis over the last 23 years.
Russia's Andrey Rublev overcame Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(7), 6-3 in their semi-final clash at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday, and will now face Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Sebastian Korda.
Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters with a shock victory over the fourth seeded Croat-Brazilian pair of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on Friday. The unseeded Indo-Romanian won the quarter-final 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.
Jannik Sinner bounced back after losing the first set to beat Tallon Griekspoor in the third round of the Miami Open.
Four-times champion Roger Federer was knocked out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Friday after a three-set defeat against Andy Murray.
Drained Medvedev pulls out of home tournament in Moscow
American teenage sensation Coco Gauff progressed to her maiden WTA final as she eased past Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4 at the Linz Open on Saturday. The 15-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova won the Tashkent Open in 2004, also aged 15.
World number one Novak Djokovic extended his winning run in Asia when he strolled into the last-16 of the Shanghai Masters.
World number five Juan Martin del Potro will miss next month's Australian Open as he continues to recover from a kneecap fracture he suffered during a fall at the Shanghai Masters.
Russia's Daniil Medvedev remarkably reached his ninth final of the season as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 7-5 at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.
The three-time major winner would be given a protected ranking of number two, the Australian Open organisers said
Japan's Kei Nishikori will make a third straight appearance at the ATP Tour finals next month after becoming the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending tournament, organisers said on Wednesday.
American twins Bob and Mike Bryan added another accolade to their lengthy resume after taking the Shanghai Masters men's doubles title on Sunday to become the first pair to win all nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments.
American teenage sensation Coco Gauff became the youngest player to win a WTA title in 15 years as she beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the Linz Open final on Sunday.
ATP, WTA cancel China events, including Shenzen Finals
Novak Djokovic beat defending champion David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 7-5 to win the Paris Masters on Sunday and keep alive his hopes of reclaiming the world number one spot by the end of the year.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal is hoping to become the first male tennis player to win six Masters trophies in the same season by winning at the Shanghai Masters this week.
Fourth seed Rafa Nadal was stunned by Serb Viktor Troicki in an upset-filled Shanghai Masters second round on Wednesday while Andy Murray breezed past American Steve Johnson and Nick Kyrgios slumped to a listless defeat. Troicki, ranked 31st in the world, overcame Nadal 6-3 7-6(3) in an hour and 34 minutes to secure his first ever victory in five previous attempts against the 14-time grand slam winner. The unseeded Serb broke twice to seal the opening set before Nadal came back strongly in the second. The Spaniard saved a match point at 5-4 down but was defeated in the tiebreak.
ormer world number one Andy Murray showed some more positive signs in his injury comeback but eventually went down in a bruising battle with Italy's Fabio Fognini.
The 14-times Grand Slam champion will surpass Roger Federer as world number two when the next edition of the ATP rankings are released on Monday.
It was a fun year. I did a lot of fun things. I got Australia back in the world group of the Davis Cup, won a couple of titles, so it's been a good year so hopefully I can back it up in 2017
World No 5 Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from this week's Shanghai Rolex Masters due to an injury to his left gluteal muscle.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna saved a match point to breeze into the title clash of the ATP World Tour finale after defeating Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek via Super tie-breaker, in London on Sunday.
With twin successes on the Asian swing of the ATP Tour, Novak Djokovic is back in the reckoning in a comparatively less successful year. And with no points to defend in the weeks ahead, the Serb, says Bikash Mohapatra, is the lone challenger to Roger Federer in the race for the year-end No.1 ranking.
The Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna has set up a summit clash with Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek after both the pairs won their respective semi-final matches in the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.
Second seed Novak Djokovic served well and barely broke a sweat as he marched past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters tennis on Thursday.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy's management team are locked in a battle with Chinese customs officials to release the US Open trophy the Northern Irishman won earlier this year so it can be taken to the season-ending Dubai World Championship next week.
Novak Djokovic exacted revenge on Andy Murray for his U.S. Open final defeat by outlasting the Briton 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters tennis title on Sunday.
Andy Murray remained on course for a hat-trick of titles at the Shanghai Masters despite the best efforts of tricky Czech Radek Stepanek on Friday, and now sets his sights on Roger Federer.
Fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered an unexpected defeat in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday when he was beaten 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 by Japanese Kei Nishikori.
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form as he brushed aside French opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to clinch the Shanghai Masters title on Sunday.