At 39, Novak Djokovic is still finding ways to win. Finding ways to feel like himself on a tennis court has proven considerably more difficult of late, however.
The Serbian icon battled past China’s Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 on Friday in Beijing, extending his remarkable lifetime record in the Chinese capital to 31-0 and reaching the China Open quarterfinals. But another medical timeout provided a segue to a revealing press conference in which the 24-time major champion acknowledged how difficult his 2026 season has been physically.
“This year has been a big, big struggle for me with few particular issues that I’ve been having,” Djokovic said. “I’ve been just trying to find different ways to be at least giving myself a decent condition physically and health-wise to be on the court and compete with the player across the net.”
Djokovic was careful not to reveal the specific nature of the problem, but stressed that it isn’t just a case of him not playing enough or being match tough.
“People mix it up. It’s not stamina. It’s something else. More related to health,” he said.
Those issues have been particularly noticeable during the second half of the season, when fatigue, illness and physical problems have repeatedly prevented Djokovic from playing at full strength. At times his issues have made simply getting through matches an ordeal, with Djokovic often suffering on court as he did during his five-set first-round loss to Marione Navone at the US Open – his first loss in the opening-round of a major in 20 years.
Against Bu on Friday there was an encouraging development. Djokovic said that late in the second set and throughout the third he actually began to feel better physically, something he described as a rarity this season.
“The third set today was really enjoyable from that perspective, finally I get to play tennis without really thinking about all the other things happening,” he said.
As Djokovic and his team search for answers, the Grand Slam king is expressing a desire to continue testing himself on court.
He plans to play the Paris Masters and would like to compete at the ATP Finals in Turin if he qualifies. Shanghai remains undecided.
“At the moment I’m also not really qualified yet for the race, for the Turin. I mean, this year I would like to play if I qualify. I’m planning also to play Paris Bercy.”
Currently No. 11 in the live Race to Turin, Djokovic still has work to do to reach the season-ending championships. Even if Jannik Sinner does not compete, Djokovic will need to make up ground during the final weeks of the season. He’s currently 50 points behind No.10 Taylor Fritz and 79 points behind No.9 Rafael Jodar in the race. Daniil Medvedev, currently at No.8, has 3070 points.
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