Novak Djokovic Victorious in Memorable Encounter Against Zverev in Beijing

Don't ever count Novak Djokovic out. That's a sentence every tennis follower will find themselves saying again and again, even when it feels most unrealistic.

Just over a month ago, the 39-year-old lost a five set epic against unseeded Mariano Navone in the first round of the US Open. Djokovic, who is historically consistent in majors, faced a barrage of speculation from fans and journalists alike. Could that have been the end of his career? How can he face top talent if he's losing in the first round? Tell that now to October's Novak Djokovic, who took down the frontman of the ATP Tour this season, Alexander Zverev, in an outstanding three-set encounter. 

It's Zverev who has spent a few years trying to earn a fraction of the booty that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have shared between them---in fact, the duo had won nine straight majors prior to Roland Garros this past spring, and Zverev had lost to one of them four times in that series. But, that all changed in 2026, at least to a certain extent. With Alcaraz sidelined by wrist injury in the spring and early summer, and Sinner affected by a bad knee in the latter half of the season which has continued up until this point, Zverev has capitalized by winning both the French Open and US Open trophies. He's the one who is sitting atop the hierarchy of the 2026 season. He's the boy to beat. 

Above: A look back at Novak Djokovic on a practice court at the US Open. Photo credit: Amaury Laporte via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 Deed).

Arriving in Beijing to kick off the Asian swing, Djokovic had a record to preserve. He's come to the tournament on six previous occasions, and hasn't lost a match. That trend continued in the first round, as the tournament's 6th seed took down Nuno Borges in two sets. Things got more tricky in round two against Yunchaokete Bu, who nabbed the first set, 6-4, before Djokovic set his train on the tracks and took the following two, 7-6(2), 6-2. If Bu, who was unseeded, could make things seriously competitive, then how would Djokovic fend in the quarterfinals against Zverev? At the beginning of the match, it didn't look too god. 

Djokovic kicked things off with a horrendous service game---a quick break for Zverev fueled, in part, by a double fault. Zverev protected that early advantage and took the first set, 6-4. It was now time to turn things around.

Djokovic knows Zverev relies on extreme baseline consistency to suffocate his opponent. To get things back on track, he'd have to take time away from him and stop syncing into these 78-foot back-and-forths. Djokovic approached the net more often, going for bigger on his groundstrokes to move Zverev around and gain the early advantage in points. This worked well, and paid off dearly at Zverev serving, 4-5. It was here that Djokovic grabbed a break and leveled the scoreline. 

Above: Novak Djokovic works on his serve on a practice court at the US Open. Photo credit:  Amaury Laporte via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 Deed).

The deciding set stayed tight. Zverev continued to fire down aces, while Djokovic looked to put returns in play and sink his teeth into the rallies while mixing things up. Like the previous set, the two held even until Zverev served at 4-5. It was a carbon copy of the set's second finish. And after a few quick baseline errors from Zverev, Djokovic walked to the net the victor. 

So what does this mean for present-day Novak Djokovic, and present day tennis? The biggest thing to consider is that three sets are much different than five. Djokovic isn't getting as exhausted at this tournament as he has been in the majors. That's significant. He's announced that he wants to play in the Olympics in 2028, which is a three set competition. That's certainly motivation. If Djokovic can sustain this three-set level, and maybe work out some alternatives to crack the five set code, it's not unrealistic that we could see him play through 2027 and go on a retirement tour culminating in the summer of 2028. 

Written by Florida Tennis contributor Will Turvey. Photo credit (top):  Amaury Laporte via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 Deed).

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