Novak Djokovic rolled back the years to defeat French Open and US Open champion Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-4 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the China Open on Sunday. The 39-year-old Serbian created a new piece of tennis history with the best start in men's singles at a tour-level event in the Open Era as he moved to 32-0 in Beijing. With his victory, Djokovic moved past Rafael Nadal for the best start at a single event, with Nadal having won his first 31 matches at the French Open.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Djokovic is a record six-time champion in Beijing and had won all 29 of his previous matches at the tournament before returning this year for the first time since 2015, when he defeated Nadal in the final to claim his sixth title. 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." Meeting for the first time in nearly 16 months, Djokovic struggled to contain the German's power in the early stages as Zverev claimed the opening set, but the Serb gradually worked his way into the match and refused to let his opponent pull away. The turning point came late in the second set when Djokovic broke at 5-4 to level the match, shifting the momentum in his favour after a tightly contested battle.
With little separating the pair in the third, the Serbian struck again at 5-4 on the Zverev serve, securing the decisive break to seal victory. The pair had not met since last year's French Open, where Djokovic won in four sets, and this encounter again highlighted the Serb's ability to deliver under pressure despite a season disrupted by physical issues. With the win, Djokovic moved a step closer to a seventh China Open title and an elusive first trophy of the year, while denying Zverev another opportunity to strengthen his bid for the world No 1 ranking.
Djokovic's next assignment will be a meeting with Daniil Medvedev, who earlier overcame Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. He is just the third man in ATP history (since 1973) to earn a top-three 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.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
