Djokovic does it again in Beijing as if eleven years had not already passed
roared Novak Djokovic on the center court of the ATP 500 hard court tournament in Beijing, China. I wanted to celebrate on a tennis court. He had not won a match since last July 7, when he beat the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Since then, three defeats in a row, an August to forget.
To elimination at Wimbledon against the Italian Jannik Sinner The defeats followed, already on the hard-surface North American tour, against the Argentines Thiago Agustín Tirante and Mariano Navonein Cincinnati and US Open, respectively.
Djokovic, 39 years old and world No. 11, found the antidote in one of his most productive fiefdoms. He returned to Peking with the same effectiveness as fifteen years before. He had not participated in this event since 2015, when he won it for the sixth time.
He returned to maintain his undefeated status. He has dominated his 30 individual matches. He lifted the trophy in 2009 and 2010, also from 2012 to 2015. He has never known defeat. Nor in its premiere in this edition, which opened by beating the Portuguese Nuno Borges29 years old and number 49, 6-3 and 7-6 (2) in 1h.50′.
Djokovic qualified for the round of 16, this Friday against the Chinese Yunchaokete Bu24 years old and 104, executioner of the Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, 6-2, 5-7 and 6-4.
With his drop in the ranking, being left out of the world top-10, Djokovic starts as sixth seed, a low rank for him, which could cause him to face the main favorite, the German, in the quarterfinals. Alexander Zverev.
If the US Open champion reaches this third round. has chained New York, Davis Cup (Halle, Germany) and Laver Cup (London). He hasn’t rested. He begins his journey in Beijing this Thursday, against the British Cameron Norrie. In the round of 16 he would meet the Chinese Juncheng Shang or the Argentine Sebastian Baez.
