Strong-finishing Djokovic staying fit for the future

Enlarge Photo Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a shot to Rainer Schuettler of Germany during the Shanghai...

Novak Djokovic credited his fitness regime for his strong finish to the year, which continued at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.

Despite the long season, the Serbian looked fresh in his "comfortable" third-round victory over Rainer Schuettler on a day when Gael Monfils and Stanilas Wawrinka became the sixth and seventh players to retire injured in Shanghai.

World number one Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who Djokovic will replace as number three next week, skipped the new tournament citing fatigue and a wrist injury.

The 22-year-old Djokovic said, however, that looking after his body had a longer-term goal than merely picking up titles in the dying weeks of the season.

"I'm trying to keep my body in good condition all the time," the Serb told reporters.

"I'm not saying they're not, it's just that I always was taking care of the body in general and health and always putting that as a priority in front of everything, and the bottom line is that you want to stay healthy after your career.

"It's great if you are successful in what you do but you don't want to live up to 30 and then just have big problems with the knees and back like most of the professional tennis players do when they finish their career."

Djokovic's victory over Schuettler was his 16th in 18 matches, a sequence which includes his China Open title last week and defeats by Federer in the Cincinnati Masters final and the U.S. Open semi-finals.

"I've been working on physical strength and fitness a lot in last couple of months, and it's been paying off," he added. "It's playing one of the key roles in the situations like this.

"When you are playing week after week, it's important to be physically strong, and that gives you advantage over your opponents."

Next up for the former Australian Open champion is Frenchman Gilles Simon, who Djokovic beat on his way to ending last season with victory in the final Masters Cup in Shanghai.

"I'm well aware that's going to be a long match," he said. "I just hope I can put up good shots in important moments and get another win."