ATP Tour

Djokovic preserves his Beijing perfection! Serbian downs in-form Zverev for SF spot

Novak Djokovic delivered a statement victory against the ATP Tour’s in-form player to forge a new piece of tennis history on Sunday evening in Beijing.

The 39-year-old Serbian overcame top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a high-quality encounter to keep his bid for a record-extending seventh China Open title intact. With his two-hour, 35-minute triumph, Djokovic improved to 32-0 in Beijing, the best start in men’s singles at a tour-level event in the Open Era: Djokovic was previously tied on that list with his great rival Rafael Nadal, who won his first 31 matches at Roland Garros.

Djokovic delivered a steely performance against Zverev to set a semi-final showdown with his fellow former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. He dropped serve in the opening game of the match, a lapse that proved enough to cost him the first set, but he showcased trademark resilience and desire to haul himself back into the match before clinching victory with the only break of the decider.

“I had a terrible start. Two double faults at the beginning. It was quite cold and honestly, I didn’t feel warmed up, but my fault,” Djokovic said. “I gave him an early break and then it was hard to come back in the first set. I had a couple of break points when he was serving for the set at 5-4, but didn’t use them, but I kind of felt already from midway through the first set that I was starting to get a good rhythm, at least one my serve and on serve plus one.”

With his second Top-2 victory of the season after his Australian Open semi-final win against Jannik Sinner, Djokovic improved to 10-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Zverev. He is just the third man in PIF ATP Rankings history (since 1973) to earn a Top-3 win after turning 39 years of age, after Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors.

“To be honest, 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. These are the kind of moments that define dreams, I think, of every tennis player. 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.”

Djokovic was made to pay for a slow start to what was an ultimately hard-fought opening set on Beijing’s stadium court, where Zverev expertly capitalised on a sloppy few opening points from his opponent to break serve in the first game. From there, Djokovic rapidly upped his level and, after saving a set point to hold serve for 4-5, he carved out his first break points of the match at 15/40 in the next game.

As he has done so often across 2026, however, Zverev found a barrage of huge serves when he needed them most. The German reeled off four consecutive points to claim the opening set, but that did not halt the Djokovic’s apparent momentum: In the second set, the 101-time tour-level titlist continued to stick with his in-form opponent before delivering a typically classy return game at 5-4, breaking to 15 to level the match.

With the Beijing crowd absorbed in every point, Djokovic and Zverev did not disappoint in a deciding set that remained hard to call until the end. Yet it was the six-time champion Djokovic who delighted his Chinese fans in the 10th game: Despite letting slip his first match point with Zverev serving at 4-5, 40/Ad, Djokovic did not miss his second opportunity after Zverev netted a forehand.

Djokovic finished the match having won 82 per cent (53/65) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, while his victory was made all the more impressive considering the 29-year-old Zverev delivered 19 aces.

“I was trying to be aggressive and come to the net, and change up the pace, not giving the same pattern,” the Serbian reflected. “He’s the best player in the world at the moment for sure, on a huge run and confidence roll.

"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. I’m just glad that I held my nerves, played good shots at important moments, 5-4 in the second and third.”

Djokovic’s next assignment will be a semi-final meeting with Medvedev, who earlier overcame Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(4), 6-3. Having arrived in Beijing after lifting an ATP 250 crown in Hangzhou, former World No. 1 Medvedev is now on a seven-match winning streak, but he will enter Monday's last-four clash with a 5-10 deficit in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Djokovic.

Alex de Minaur and Hubert Hurkacz will contest the semi-final in the bottom half of the draw. The fifth-seeded De Minaur downed Andrey Rublev 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to equal his semi-final run in Beijing from a year ago. By reaching the last four in the Chinese capital, De Minaur has risen four spots to ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, boosting his hopes of a third consecutive qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Meanwhile Hurkacz continued his resurgence on the hard courts of China after injury struggles. The Chengdu finalist ousted Karen Khachanov 7-6(2), 6-2 for his first semi-final above ATP 250 level since Rotterdam in February 2025.