By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, October 2, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
Novak Djokovic showed fierce fight to remain flawless in Beijing.
Six-time China Open champion Djokovic battled by Chinese wild card Yunchaokete Bu 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 to advance to his seventh Beijing quarterfinal.
Competing on Chinese soil typically brings out dynamic tennis in Djokovic.
The Grand Slam king raised his Beijing record to a perfect 31-0. Djokovic joins archrival Rafael Nadal as the only men in Open Era history to win their first 31 matches at a tournament. Nadal won his first 31 Roland Garros matches before bowing to Robin Soderling in his first French Open defeat.
“It means a lot. Obviously when you win being set down and needing to really work your way back to the match, it kind of values as the double win, to be honest, a double victory in that sense because you’re proud of yourself, you’re proud of the effort,” Djokovic told the media in Beijing. “Mentally when you’re trailing, it’s always more difficult because there’s more stress, more pressure that you know you have to do the right things to come back to the match. That was the case.
“Honestly in the second set, I thought I should have closed it out. Before tiebreak I had break points 3-2, 4-3, 5-4. Every time he needed it, he got first serve in. He was placing his first serve incredibly well. Playing aggressive tennis, inspired tennis.”
Djokovic can take sole possession of the record if he defeats either top-seeded Alexander Zverev or Chinese wild card Jerry Shang in the quarterfinals.
At 39 years, 4 months of age, Djokovic is the oldest man to reach an ATP 500-level quarterfinal since the format’s inception back in 2009.
It is Djokovic’s third quarterfinal of the season after the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Today, Djokovic recovered from a set down after the flat-hitting Bu came out hitting some rockets. Bu broke for 4-3 then served out the set for a one-set lead.
The 15,000 fans jammed into the Beijing Olympic Tennis Centre were engaged as the second-set drama escalated. Djokovic broke for 3-1 only to see Bu break right back. Bu navigated a tricky 12th game hold to force the tie break.
As he did in his 6-3, 7-6(2) opening-round win over Nuno Borges, Djokovic amped up his aggression and played sharper tennis in the tie break today.
Deadlocked at 2-all, Djokovic streaked through five points in a row to seize the second set.
Leveling the match, Djokovic was swinging more freely as he charged out to a 5-1 lead in the decider.
Pumping his 15th ace out wide brought Djokovic three match points.
On his second match point, Djokovic whipped the wide serve to open the court then banged a backhand winner crosscourt to close in two hours, 52 minutes.
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