Djokovic Returns to Beijing, Still Unbeaten in China
The Serbian tennis star returned after 11 years to a city where he has never lost: six appearances, six titles, a 29-0 record. A crowd met him at the airport, and he greeted fans in Chinese.
Beijing airport looked like a fan zone on Saturday afternoon. A crowd stood in line with phones raised, waiting for the doors to open and for the man who calls this city his second home to walk through. When Novak Djokovic finally appeared, he did not just walk past them. He stopped, posed for photos, signed autographs, and, as he tends to do wherever he lands, spoke a few lines in the local language. A handful of sentences in Chinese was all it took to send the crowd into a frenzy.
This was no ordinary arrival. Djokovic was back in Beijing for the first time in 11 years, since his last appearance there in 2015. That is enough time for an entire new generation of players to come up through the ranks, yet the record Djokovic carries in this city has not been touched.
Why is Beijing his city?
Simply put, he does not lose there. Djokovic has played the China Open six times, in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and won the title on every single occasion. His record stands at 29 wins and zero losses, and across all those matches he has dropped only three sets. In other words, he has never left Beijing as a beaten man, and now he returns to the place where he was once untouchable.
One detail is worth pausing on, since sources disagree. HotSport reports that Djokovic will not step on court until September 30, while the tournament itself was earlier announced to run from September 28 to October 6. Until the full draw is released, neither date should be treated as confirmed for his opening match.
What is certain is that Djokovic arrives in Beijing as the sixth seed. Ahead of him on the list are Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur. Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton will skip the tournament, which clears part of the path for Djokovic toward another final in a city that has, so far, never treated him badly.
After landing, he stepped up to the microphone and said what everyone expected to hear.
“I’m back in Beijing after 11 years. Honestly, it’s been too long. I can’t wait to play in front of you, and I hope we can have a great week together.”
Short, no theatrics, but enough to show how much this return actually meant to him.
A few days before flying to China, Djokovic was at the Belgrade Arena watching Red Star take on Zalgiris, only days after he had trained at Partizan and posed with his father flashing three fingers. The season behind him, however, was far from smooth. After a Wimbledon semifinal, a stretch without rhythm followed: early exits in Cincinnati and at the US Open, where he was knocked out in the first round by Mariano Navone.
That is exactly why Beijing now carries extra weight. It is the tournament where Djokovic has historically been at his most secure, arriving at a moment when he needs that kind of security more than ever. The field is younger and hungrier than it was 11 years ago, but the number 29-0 does not say anything about the field. It speaks to one man and one city that, it seems, simply loves him back. The only question left is whether the schedule, once it is finally released, will confirm that Djokovic takes the court at the end of the month or has to wait until Monday.
