Novak Djokovic: The Emperor of the China Open
This article underlines the incredible successes of Novak Djokovic as commemoration to his most recent ATP 500 title at the China Open in Beijing 2026 which was his 7th at the event.
2009: A Debut to Remember
Novak came to Beijing in 2009 looking for 3rd title of that season and looking to end the season on a high. 2009 wasn't an easy year for Djokovic who's results weren't what he's hoped with no grand slam final appearances or grand slam titles. However, this tournament made Novak raise his game to new heights and this was the start of the endearing relationship Djokovic now has with the event. Djokovic played a sublime level of tennis throughout the event, dropping a set to, (top 10 player at the time), Argentine Verdasco in a 3 set game where Novak however still was victorious.
In the Final, Marin Cilic who was optimistic following a victory over Nadal in the semi-finals couldn't repeat the dose to Djokovic in the Finals who took a comfortable straight sets victory marking his first title at the event.
2010: Back to Back in Beijing
Novak returned to the China Open for the second time and had no plans relinquishing his momentum from the year prior at the event. Novak again similar to 2009, lacked the finishing touch in Grand Slam events reaching the Quarter Finals or further in all 4 without claiming a title. However, the 2010 China Open showed Djokovic resembling that clinical nature, taking a dominant tournament victory after beating Spanish player David Ferrer in straight sets in the final. Djokovic also won the event not only back to back but also for the first time without dropping a single set which was a great achievement.
2012: A Beijing Masterclass
Novak having picked up an injury in 2011 wasn't able to participate in the China Open but he returned in 2012 in the hope of completing the treble of titles won at the China Open in which he participated in. 2012 was a mixed year for Novak as a year starting off so strong with an Australian Open title defeating Nadal in a five-set thriller pointed towards the continued momentum from his absolutely outstanding 2011 campaign. However, this would be the height of his season with close disappointments in the summer swing of the French,Wimbledon and the Olympics slightly dampened spirits. The China Open Djokovic looked to repair the wrongs of the summer on a court of unbeaten success thus far for the Serbian. Cracks appeared to show when dropping a set in the first round opener to qualifier Berrer. This result was just a facade as the rest of the tournament resembled an almost perfect run of results taking Novak to an unbeaten 3rd title in 3 attempts at the China Open after a straight sets final victory to the French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. This catapulted Novak to end the season well to take the ATP Finals title with a victory over Roger Federer.
2013: A China Open Dynasty
Novak was on the brink of an astonishing 2013 season but just fell short but this doesn’t take away from the successes within. Djokovic started the 2013 season strong once more claiming the Grand Slam of choice at the time - the Australian Open. The winning streak continued, winning the ATP 500 event in Dubai before claiming the illustrious Monte Carlo Masters title thereafter. The absolute agony of a nail-biting 5 set defeat to Nadal in the semi-finals of the French Open and losses in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open really created what could have been rhetoric for Novak with the Calendar Slam within sight. However, even with this immense disappointment Novak continued his ruthless streak ending the year 22 games unbeaten taking titles in Paris,the ATP Finals and Shanghai. Within this streak he arrived once more at his fabled China Open. 2013 was no different to the past with Novak cruising through the tournament except a valiant second set performance by Verdasco in round 2 blemishing a perfect record. He went on to take a 4th title in 4 attempts quickly becoming the owner of the event after a comfortable straight sets final victory versus Rafael Nadal.
2014: The Beijing Blueprint
Novak had a relatively successful season in 2014 racking up 6 titles. The year started off on the wrong foot by being knocked out of a 5 set thriller in the Australian Open quarter finals by Stan Wawrinka. This defeat was followed by a defeat in the Semi finals of the Dubai Masters to another Swiss player in Roger Federer. Novak however was able to turn the fortunes in his favour as the season went on. The Serbian racked up the US double - the Indian Wells and Miami ATP 1000 and then claimed the Rome Masters to give his clay season some substance in which he defeated the ‘King of Clay’ Nadal in the final. However, when it mattered most at Roland Garros the result was reversed in the final with Nadal taking the honours. It took until Wimbledon for Djokovic’s season to really start to soar, taking his first grand slam of the year in style with a gruelling 5 set victory over Roger Federer. Then it quietened down again with the run up to the US Open and then got stunned by the up and coming Japanese ace, Kei Nishikori in the semi finals. The China Open came around and Djokovic saw this as the perfect opportunity to regain some hard court form. He won in absolute scintillating style having the perfect tournament run in which his record was clean without a set dropped. This was Djokovic’s 3rd consecutive China open and 4th in his only 4 attempts at this event. This arena was truly Djokovic’s to dominate and he has become the blueprint on how to win matches on this court.
2015: Determined to Remain Unbeaten
2015 was an absolute monster of a year for Novak Djokovic which made one of his most accomplished seasons of tennis with a grand total of 11 titles, 82 wins and only 6 losses and a heartbreaking miss of the calendar slam. It all began with a loss funny enough in the Doha Open to start the year crashing out in the quarter finals to Ivo Karlovic in 3 sets. This would be a small blip as Djokovic bounced back as he’s often known for his resilience to claim the first grand slam of the year down under in Australia. Novak was in rampant form throughout the tournament not dropping a set until the semi-finals where he encountered an enthralling 5 set match up against Stan Wawrinka where the Serbian fought hard to overcome and defeat the Swiss.
A 4 set victory to Andy Murray in the final capped off a great start to the year. Djokovic then blitzed the rest of the start of season hard court schedule taking the titles at both the Indian Wells and the Miami Open. Djokovic’s incredible tennis streak continued into the season taking out major titles in Monte Carlo and Rome to set up a great chance at taking the second grand slam in the French Open. However, Wawrinka took revenge on Novak in a result reversal within 4 sets in the final to take his 2nd Grand Slam of his career. A tough defeat to take at the time where the fatigue from 5 set semi-final with Murray likely playing a part in his defeat. This would become his only Grand Slam defeat of the entire season. Wimbledon came shortly after in which Djokovic didn’t take any time to dwell on his losses from Roland Garros. Surviving a 4th round scare to South African Kevin Anderson being the only major challenge to Djokovic who cruised to the final. He had to overcome the ‘King of Grass’ Federer to take the title which he did in a gruelling 4 set encounter with 2 tiebreaks. A second Grand Slam of the season for Novak in a season already shaping to be spectacular.
Arguably the worst dip in form in a scintillating campaign for Novak came at the start of second stage of the hard court schedule where in the Canadian Masters and the Cincinnati Masters, he fell to defeats in consecutive finals. This proves the unstoppable level of tennis Novak was maintaining that final defeats were disappointments as these accounted for a ⅓ of his defeats all year. What’s best to use a bounce back tool from these defeats than a Grand slam with Novak only losing a match all year. This record was maintained as Djokovic comfortably sailed through the competition leading to a final victory against Federer in 4 sets.This was a 3rd Grand Slam of the year making that singular defeat at Roland Garros the only hurdle that stopped Novak competing the Calendar Slam. Djokovic had the perfect momentum surge from the US Open to continue his unbeaten run at the China Open which became Djokovic’s playground whenever he competed. 2015 became one of the best China Open titles of the many he won as he went undefeated and didn’t even get near to dropping a single set. Novak defeated Rafael Nadal in the final to take his 6th title at the China Open. Djokovic was invincible throughout the rest of the hard court schedule winning big events like the Shanghai Masters,Paris Masters and the ATP Finals to end the year at No1 which summarised his season as he was simply on top of the Tennis World where his level of performance was rarely ever matched by anyone.
2026: A Title Written in the Stars
In a difficult season for Novak, Djokovic craved a taste of victory once more and returned to the China Open for the first time in 11 years in which he has been absent from the event. The year started very positively with Djokovic with a great run in the Australian open in which Novak was fortuitous with injuries from his opponents Mensik and Musetti in the run up to the semi-final but took absolute advantage in the decisive way he always has known how to be. Djokovic completed a seismic victory over world number one at the time, Jannik Sinner breaking his losing run against the italian. However, this brutal match was a 5 setter which Djokovic’s recovery to his peak performance to repeat this deed to Alcaraz in the final was unfortunately never a possibility in which he lost in 4 sets to the Spaniard. After this, hardship replaced success as Novak had to withdraw from many tournaments through the clay season only attending the Rome Masters. This was a short stint as he went out in his first match, losing to Dino Przmic in 3 sets. Roland Garros rolled around soon after and as many seeds fell around Novak rose as a 25th slam edged closer. However, Djokovic was defeated in 5 sets by Joao Fonseca in the 3rd round. Thereafter, Novak headed straight to Wimbledon hoping to recover some of his old form. Djokovic played a very respectable tournament which he had a particular highlight displaying the Serbian longevity to outlast Auger-Alliasime in 5 sets to advance to the semi-finals. As hard as Novak fought in the semi-finals, with a depleted level of energy and a ruthless Jannik, he fell to a 3 set loss and was eliminated from the tournament.
A struggling period followed on the run up to the US Open and this form was ultimately proved as Djokovic fell to a surprising 5 set defeat to Navone in the 1st round. Everyone was questioning if Novak still had it or if he should just retire? Djokovic used this noise as fuel to prove everyone wrong like he has done every single time in his career to date. The China Open was the perfect setting for rolling back the years. Novak comfortably dispatched Borges in round 1 and was resilient amongst his health problems to defeat China’s home faithful in BU in 3 sets. The hardest challenge of all was upon Novak. Alexander Zverev turned up as favourite however he defeated the already 2 time grand slam winner this season in 3 sets with a monstrous effort and a quality performance that was his best of the whole event and even his tennis season so far with the exception of the Sinner Semi-final in the Australian Open. Djokovic maintained this level throughout against Medvedev in the Semi-final and this frustrated Medvedev to the point a lapse in judgement hitting a ball into the crowd resulted in the walkover result and Djokovic reached the final for the 7th consecutive time at this event.
Djokovic used all he had left to take out set 1 in an enthralling tie-breaker. In the beginning of the second set, Di Minaur unfortunately pulled out with an unexpected injury crowning Novak the champion once more of the China Open. This was Novak’s 7th title in 7 attempts making the Serbian unbeaten in 34 professional games here in Beijing taking the record away from Monica Seles for the most games undefeated at a single tournament without defeat.
A Record to Withstand the Test of Time?
Novak’s love story with the China Open is a fairytale feat for the ages. He has mentioned numerous times the absolute amazing warmth and support from this Chinese crowd that has helped him many hardships to reach this unbeaten and unstoppable position he finds himself at this event. The question is will the record of 34 unbeaten without defeat at an event ever be topped? It seems insurmountable at this current time however records are always there to be broken. Will Novak dare to return to this event one more time and defend his illustrious perfect record and aim for a consecutive 8th title or will Novak settle in the history as the true unbeaten emperor of Beijing?
Article Written by Taegan H
