Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz were spotted sitting together as Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic to win the Shanghai Masters. Sinner, who is already guaranteed to finish the season as world number one, was too strong for Djokovic, making it four wins from his last five matches against the Serbian with a 7-6 (4) 6-3 triumph.

That denied Djokovic a 100th career title, although this week has been another reminder that the 37-year-old remains very much a factor at the top of the game. There were some illustrious former and current players in the 12,000-strong crowd.

They included Federer and Alcaraz, whose paths have rarely crossed until recently. Alcaraz’s presence was a surprise to some, given his interest in the tournament had been ended at the quarter-final stage by Tomas Machac.

One reason he has stuck around, along with father Carlos and his brother Alvaro, is the fact he will be jetting straight to Saudi Arabia to compete in the ‘Six Kings Slam’, which begins on Wednesday. Sinner and Djokovic will make the same trip.

The other reason Federer and Alcaraz were seated together was their shared association with luxury watch brand Rolex, the tournament’s title sponsor, for which they are both ambassadors. Federer said in September, ahead of the Laver Cup, that he was looking forward to spending time with Alcaraz.

The Swiss said he owed the Spaniard an apology for declining the chance to have extra practice time with the youngster. The pair once hit together at Wimbledon when Federer was in his pomp while Alcaraz was a junior.

Federer was offered the chance to hit with Alcaraz again the following day, only to decline, preferring to practice with the youngster’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, instead. He recalled saying: “No, it’s okay, I’d rather warm up with his coach.”

The pair will no doubt have been impressed with Sinner’s latest triumph, with the Italian not facing a single break point in the straight-sets victory over Djokovic. Sinner said: “It was a very tough match, obviously.

“Playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges we have and I’m obviously very, very happy how I handled the situation. He was serving great the first set, I really couldn’t find a way to break him.

“I played a very good breaker in the first set, which gave me the confidence to start off well in the second set and obviously very happy with the performance throughout this whole tournament. It’s obviously a very special one.”