On Saturday, moments before heading off to meet Pique, the 14-time Grand Slam champion reiterated that the two tournaments "cannot coexist on a high level, especially as they are so close to each other".

"At least in my opinion, there is no room for two big events," said Djokovic, after beating Germany's Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.

"It might not happen for a year, two or three, but sooner or later it has to be only one."

Pique is at the Shanghai Masters because there is an international break in the soccer season and he has retired from Spain duty.

Meanwhile, defending champion Federer crashed out in the semis after a stunning 6-4, 6-4 straight sets loss to Coric.

Coric, who is now ranked 19th, earned breaks in the opening games of both sets and held out all his services games to see off the Swiss master in 73 minutes on Saturday.

"I thought he was better, he had more chances than I had. I got off to a bad start in both sets," Federer said of the 21-year-old Croatian.