Beijing: Djokovic fights back past Zverev into the semis

Novak Djokovic beat Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the China Open, the ATP 500 event in Beijing, and booked a semi-final spot that looked far away midway through the first set. The Serb lost the opening set, then changed gear and closed out the match with two identical sets.

For Zverev it is a heavy defeat. The German is world No. 2 with 9,680 live points: Jannik Sinner is 1,270 points ahead, Carlos Alcaraz 4,420 behind. In Beijing he arrived as a favourite, riding the run that carried him to the US Open title, where he beat Ben Shelton in the final 6-3 7-6(2) 5-7 6-2.

The match lasted two and a half hours and followed a clear script. According to match reports, Djokovic started badly: two double faults early on and a break against him, which made it hard to get back into the first set. Zverev served very well, hitting 19 aces over the match, and took the set 6-4.

From the middle of the first set the Serb found more rhythm on serve, began to rally more aggressively and came to the net to take time away from his opponent. In the second set the break arrived at 5-4, at 15, and the match went to a decider.

The final set followed almost the same script. At 5-4 Zverev lost the point that mattered and sent a forehand into the net, handing Djokovic the game and the win. It was a bitter ending for a player who had handled the pressure well for almost two hours.

After the match Djokovic had generous words for his opponent: "He's the best player in the world at the moment, for sure," he said, adding that Zverev is "on a huge run, and confidence."

The Serb also spoke about his condition: "I feel okay. That cannot be better news for me, to be honest, because that wasn't the case for most of the year," he explained. The comments, made after the match, were reported by Yahoo Sports.

The win extends a record that nobody can match in Beijing: according to match reports Djokovic is now 32-0 in the tournament, meaning he has never lost at this event. It is a streak that shows how special the hard courts of the Chinese capital have become for him.

The head-to-head, according to the site's head-to-head page, stands at 5-1 for Djokovic. The Serb has won the last two meetings: the 2025 Roland Garros quarter-final (4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4) and this one. Zverev won the 2025 Australian Open semi-final, 7-6(5) with a retirement. Before that, Djokovic won in Cincinnati in 2023 (7-6(5) 7-5) and at the 2021 Slams: the US Open in five sets and the Australian Open in four.

The Serb's path in Beijing has not been easy. In the third round he beat Nuno Borges 6-3 7-6(2). In the round of 16 he had to come back against Bu Yunchaokete, who had taken the first set 6-4: Djokovic won 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2. Against Zverev it was the third straight match in which he had to deal with a tie-break or a lost set.

Djokovic's season has had its ups and downs. In 2025 he finished with 38 wins, 11 losses and two titles. In 2026 he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, stopped by Sinner 6-4 6-4 6-4, but lost in the first round of the US Open to Mariano Navone in five sets, and in the third round in Cincinnati to Thiago Agustin Tirante. Over his last ten matches he has 7 wins and 3 losses.

Zverev arrives with the opposite numbers: 9 wins and just one loss in his last ten matches. Besides the New York title (2,000 points) he reached the Wimbledon final. In the early rounds in China he had beaten Cameron Norrie 7-6(1) 6-4 and Juncheng Shang 6-0 6-3, without dropping a set.

The tournament is an ATP 500 and its roll of honour is top class. In 2025 Sinner won, beating Learner Tien 6-2 6-2; in 2024 Alcaraz beat Sinner 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3); in 2023 Sinner got past Daniil Medvedev 7-6(2) 7-6(2). This year, as the site's editorial note also says, the event is played without Sinner.

The other quarter-finals produced three more semi-finalists. Hubert Hurkacz beat Karen Khachanov 7-6(2) 6-2, Alex De Minaur came back to beat Andrey Rublev 1-6 6-2 6-3 and Medvedev got past Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(4) 6-3. The four semi-finalists come from four different countries: Serbia, Russia, Australia and Poland.

What happens now? In the draw Djokovic is in the same half as Medvedev, so the semi-final should be against the Russian, while Hurkacz and De Minaur meet on the other side. There are 200 points for a semi-final exit, 330 for the runner-up and 500 for the champion.

The week matters for the rankings too. Zverev, who was defending 100 quarter-final points from 2025 in Beijing, has 730 points to defend over the next six weeks. Djokovic has 250, from his 2025 Athens title. Either way, the Serb can take another step forward: at 39 he keeps finding matches where the head counts as much as the legs.