China Open: Novak Djokovic keeps unblemished record in Beijing by handing Alexander Zverev a rare defeat

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.

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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.

"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."

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. I'm just glad to push it through."

Zverev vs Djokovic: Tale of the Tape

'Djokovic came up with the answers'

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, former British No 1 Annabel Croft described the match as an "incredible contest".

"Some high-quality, absolutely fantastic tennis between two brilliant players. Why would you ever doubt Novak Djokovic even at the age of 39?

"The match got better and better as well, and had some different tactical shifts for Djokovic, who after the long physical points, I thought his legs were tiring, but he came back. He threw in some drop shots, he threw in some serve and volleys early in the second set and just changed things up with the pattern of play.

"Djokovic came up with the answers. It was on a knife edge right to the end but what a finish and what a treat for all those fans in Beijing."

At the Japan Open, top seed Carlos Alcaraz required only 83 minutes on court before he booked a place in the semi-finals after Denis Shapovalov retired when trailing 7-6 (7-3) 2-1.

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