Djokovic Stays Perfect in Beijing

Novak Djokovic beat top seed Alexander Zverev 4⁠–⁠6, 6⁠–⁠4, 6⁠–⁠4 on Sunday, 4 October, in the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing. The match took about two hours and 35 minutes. The win kept the 39-year-old Serbian unbeaten in the Chinese capital and put him in the semi-finals of the ATP 500, a men’s tour event one level below the Masters series (ATP Tour; AFP; BBC Sport).

A set is first to six games, by a margin of two. Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, lost his serve in the opening game after two double faults and dropped the first set. He said it was cold and that he did not feel warmed up. He then broke Zverev’s serve late in the second set, at 5⁠–⁠4, and again in the final game of the third to close it out (ATP Tour; AFP; Al Jazeera).

Zverev is the world No. 2 and the reigning French Open and US Open champion. He is 29. He hit 19 aces — serves his opponent could not touch — and still won only one of the 15 games on Djokovic’s serve. Djokovic finished having won 82 percent of points behind his first serve, 53 of 65 (AFP; Al Jazeera; Tennis.com; ATP Tour).

The Beijing line is the one that will travel. Djokovic is now 32⁠–⁠0 at this tournament. He has won the title on each of his six previous visits. The ATP says that is the best unbeaten start by a man at a single tour-level event in the Open Era, passing Rafael Nadal’s 31 straight wins at Roland Garros, the French Open. He also became only the third man, after Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors, to beat a top-three player after turning 39 (ATP Tour).

“I had a terrible start. Two double faults at the beginning,” Djokovic said. “I gave him an early break and then it was hard to come back in the first set.” Later he said he was trying to be aggressive, come to the net and change the pace. “When he’s serving the way he was serving tonight and the whole year, it’s just a nightmare for the opponent. You don’t have too many opportunities and when they are presented, if you don’t use them, it’s frustrating.” He said he was glad he played good shots at the important moments, at 5-4 in the second and third sets (ATP Tour; Al Jazeera).

The BBC reported that the loss also hurt Zverev’s chances of finishing the year ranked No. 1. Their head-to-head series, the running tally of matches between them, moved to 10⁠–⁠5 in Djokovic’s favour. The pair had not met since Roland Garros in 2025, when Djokovic won in four sets. It was Djokovic’s second top-two win of the season, after his Australian Open semi-final against Jannik Sinner (BBC Sport; ATP Tour; Al Jazeera).

“These are the kind of moments that I still play for, compete for,” Djokovic said. “The motivation is big obviously when you are feeling good and competing at par with the best players in the world, in front of 15,000 people of course. It’s been a struggle this year, to be honest, for different reasons, but I’m still there, still grinding, still making the youngsters work for their money. I’m just glad to push it through” (ATP Tour; BBC Sport).

What is still open is Monday’s semi-final. Djokovic was due to play Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, a former world No. 1, at about 7:00 p.m. Beijing time (7:00 a.m. ET). Medvedev had reached the last four by beating Francisco Cerundolo 7⁠–⁠6(4), 6⁠–⁠3 and arrived on a seven-match winning streak after lifting an ATP 250 title in Hangzhou. Their head-to-head stands at 5⁠–⁠10 in Djokovic’s favour. That semi-final had not been completed at press time. No score for it is printed here (ATP Tour; Sporting News).

The other Beijing semi-final pairs Alex de Minaur, who beat Andrey Rublev 1⁠–⁠6, 6⁠–⁠2, 6⁠–⁠3, against Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Karen Khachanov 7⁠–⁠6(2), 6⁠–⁠2. Those are finished quarter-finals that frame the bottom half. The top half is Djokovic versus Medvedev, still to come when this page closed (ATP Tour; BBC Sport).

What a reader can take from Sunday night in Beijing is narrower than a finished semi-final. Djokovic dropped the first set, survived 19 aces from the world No. 2, and left the court 32⁠–⁠0 in a city where he has never lost. The Open Era mark that belonged to Nadal at Roland Garros is his now. Monday’s match against Medvedev is set up. It is not a result.