Nole delivered another masterful performance!
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic delivered a statement victory against Roland Garros and US Open titlist to write a new piece of tennis history on Sunday evening in Beijing.
The 39-year-old Serbian star outplayed top seed Alexander Zverev in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in a high-quality encounter to continue his bid for a record-extending seventh China Open trophy.
Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game of the match, a lapse that proved enough to cost him the first set. However, he showed great resilience and desire to fight back into the match before clinching the remarkable triumph with the deciding breaks coming in the 10th game of the second and third sets.
Nole finished the match having won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve.
Statistics: aces (4-19), double faults (3-0), winners (30-48), unforced errors (21-26), total points won (95-85).
With the two-hour, 35-minute win, the Belgrade native improved to 32-0 in Beijing, the best start in men’s singles at a tour-level event in the Open Era. He was previously tied on that list with his great rival Rafael Nadal, who won his first 31 matches at Roland Garros.
“These are the kind of moments that I still play for, compete for,” Djokovic said. “The motivation is big when you are feeling good and competing at par with the best players in the world, in front of 15,000 people. 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.”
In a semi-final showdown of two former world no.1 players, Novak will take on Daniil Medvedev on Monday at 13:00 CET.
Photo: Profimedia
