Novak Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev in the China Open quarterfinal in Beijing 4-6 6-4 6-4 to reach the semifinal of the ATP 500 tournament. He knocked out the top seed despite being seeded sixth himself. Match statistics are provided by api.tennis.
First Zverev, then Djokovic
The German took the first set, putting Djokovic in catch-up mode. In the second and third sets, the Serbian player won both times by the same score, 6-4. The overall set score finished 2-1 in his favor.
For Djokovic, this was the second match in a row on the Beijing hard courts in which he lost the first set and still won. In the round of 16, he beat Yunchaokete Bu 4-6 7-6 6-2. In the round of 32, he defeated Nuno Borges 6-3 7-6. Before Beijing, Djokovic had suffered losses in the first round of the US Open to Mariano Navone and in Cincinnati to Tirante.
Zverev advanced to the quarterfinal with confidence. He beat Cameron Norrie 7-6 6-4, and Juncheng Shang in the round of 16, 6-0 6-3. According to rank.tennis, he sits second in the rankings with 9670 points. Djokovic is 12th in the same table, with 2780 points.
The 2026 season added a new chapter to the head-to-head history between the two players. At the 2025 Australian Open, Djokovic came out on top, 7-6. At Roland Garros that same year, Zverev won 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4. Before that, Zverev had beaten Djokovic in Cincinnati in 2023 (7-6 7-5), at the ATP Cup team event, and at the 2021 Australian Open.