Novak Djokovic defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges by 6-3, 7-6(2) in one hour and 51 minutes to maintain his perfect Beijing record in his first appearance at the event since 2015. This was the 30th win for the Serbian in the Chinese capital and he is yet to suffer a loss in the China Open.
Djokovic won the opening set convincingly but had to take a medical timeout at 2-3 in the second set. The veteran admitted that the Portuguese raised his level in the second set whereas he struggled a bit physically.
“In the second set he started playing better and I struggled a little bit physically to stay fresh,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “When I was serving, I was dominating and going through my games quite comfortably. It was helping getting those first serves in, that high percentages makes my life easier in my service games and I played a great tie-break to close it out in two, so I am very happy about that.”
This was the second win for Djokovic against Borges in as many meetings.
Meanwhile, Djokovic came to Beijing after suffering opening-round exits at the US Open and at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. The 39-year-old was stunned by Mariano Navone in the opening round of the New York Major.
Djokovic is yet to win his first title in 2026. Earlier in the season, the veteran made it to the final of the Australian Open but could not cross the last hurdle against Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic then suffered a semifinal loss against Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon before suffering a third-round loss at Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic will next face Chinese star Buyunchaokete, who defeated Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 earlier on Wednesday.
