Novak Djokovic rolled back the years to oust Alexander Zverev from the China Open on Sunday, beating the top seed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Daniil Medvedev.
The 39-year-old electrified a packed crowd in Beijing, where he extended an astonishing winning streak to 32 matches. Djokovic got off to a poor start, double-faulting twice in the first game to help Zverev, a decade his junior, break serve instantly.
Boos filled the stadium soon afterwards when the umpire agreed to replay a point Djokovic had won, after Zverev complained about a flicker in the LED panels during play. The German saw out the first set from there, but a valiant Djokovic roared back to seal the second with a cross-court winner to break serve and force a decider.
The 24-time grand slam champion faced 19 Zverev aces throughout the match but held steady on his own serve to go 5-4 ahead in the final set. He then broke the world No 2 to take the set and the match, seemingly defying his recent physical difficulties with victory in a gruelling two hours and 34 minutes.
Djokovic will face Medvedev in the final four after the former world No 1 dispatched Francisco Cerúndolo 7-6, 6-3.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz also advanced to the semi-finals after beating Karen Khachanov, and will play Australia’s Alex de Minaur who survived a gruelling test to beat Andrey Rublev 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Aryna Sabalenka was swatted aside in straight sets by Nikola Bartunkova in the third round of the China Open on Sunday, leaving the event without its top two seeds.
Bartunkova, the world No 34, sent down four aces to beat the former world No 1 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes. “I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said. “She’s a legend … so I’m really happy that I won the match.” Bartunkova, 20, next faces Austria’s Sinja Kraus in the round of 16.
Second-seeded Sabalenka squandered five chances to break serve in the sixth game of the first set, with Bartunkova strong on defence and firing deep.
The 28-year-old from Belarus put on a cap for the eighth game of the first set as the women switched between playing in the shade and the sun, but it did not turn the tide in her favour.
A frustrated Sabalenka tossed her racket at a break down in the fourth game of the second set, and lost on the first match point when she returned into the net. Top seed Elena Rybakina – who replaced Sabalenka as world No 1 – was ousted by Alina Charaeva in the second round on Saturday. On Sunday she withdrew from the Wuhan Open with a foot injury she said had hampered her against the world No 118.
Top seed Alexander Zverev was scheduled to play Novak Djokovic later on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the men’s event. The 39-year-old Serbian great enters the match with an extraordinary unbeaten streak in Beijing, but Zverev is in the running for the top men’s ranking.
