Djokovic Named on Beijing Entry List After 11-Year Absence

The night between Sunday and Monday in New York will go down as one of the toughest stretches of Novak Djokovic’s recent seasons. The Serbian player lost to Mariano Navone of Argentina in the first round of the US Open, an exit already covered in “Djokovic Out in US Open First Round for the First Time in His Career.” While that loss is still being dissected, news out of Beijing has shifted the focus forward: Djokovic’s name has surfaced on the preliminary entry list for the ATP tournament there, a stop the Serbian star has not played in a full 11 years.

The 11-year gap is a story on its own, but what sits alongside it raises the stakes further. In his six previous appearances in Beijing, Djokovic reached six finals and won six titles, a run without a single loss at the event. Few players in professional tennis can claim a perfect record at one tournament across six appearances, and Beijing is exactly that for Djokovic, a court he has never left as a loser.

Officially, the list released by organizers carries preliminary status and remains subject to change up to the start of play. That is also where the first discrepancy between sources appears: Tanjug reports the tournament runs from September 30 to October 6, while B92 lists September 28 as the opening day. Which date is correct will not be clear until organizers publish the official schedule. Alongside Djokovic, the preliminary list includes Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev, and organizers say as many as seven top-10 ATP players are expected to compete.

Can Djokovic Even Play in Beijing?

What the list does not settle is the more important question: whether Djokovic will actually reach the start line in full fitness. After the loss to Navone, the Serbian player left the court dealing with physical issues, which is why his name on the preliminary list does not automatically mean a spot on court on September 28 or 30. Beijing is a stop on the Asian swing at the end of the season, and Djokovic’s physical condition will be the story to watch in the coming weeks, ahead of anything else tied to the tournament itself.

Sinner, who missed the US Open with a knee injury, is also on the list and is expected to arrive in Beijing at full strength, unlike Djokovic, whose status remains uncertain. For organizers, that is still good news: a field with seven top-10 players promises a strong tournament regardless of whether Djokovic ultimately takes the court.

The loss in New York remains the biggest tennis shock of the season for the Serbian star, the first first-round Grand Slam exit of his career. Beijing now offers a chance to salvage at least part of the season, at a tournament where he has historically been unbeatable. The difference is that this time, unlike his previous six trips to the Chinese capital, the question is not how many titles he will win, but whether he will play at all.

For anyone who has followed Djokovic over the years, this looks like a familiar pattern: after a setback comes talk of a comeback on a court where history is on his side. But 11 years off and his physical state after New York are realities no entry list changes by itself. The real news arrives only when Beijing, closer to September 28, releases its final list and it becomes clear whether Djokovic steps onto the court at all.