31-0 in Beijing: Djokovic Keeps His Perfect China Open Record Going

Novak Djokovic arrived in Beijing without a win since July 7. He has never lost a match there, and that hasn't changed.

The sixth seed beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Wednesday, his first victory since the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and then came from a set down to beat China's Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 on Friday. That puts the 39-year-old at 31-0 at the China Open, a tournament he has won six times, most recently in 2015.

A scare, then his best tennis

Djokovic's last match before Beijing was a first-round loss at the US Open on Aug. 31, so there were questions about his form and his body. They came up again against Borges, when he called a physio at 3-2 down in the second set for an undisclosed issue.

It didn't seem to slow him. He held his next two service games at love and played some of his sharpest tennis after the timeout. There was only one break of serve in the match, by Djokovic in Borges' opening service game, and he raced through the tiebreak to four match points, needing only one.

Against Bu, he had to work harder, dropping the first set before taking a tight second and pulling away in the third.

Next up

Djokovic plays his quarterfinal on Sunday in Beijing. Earlier in the week, US Open semifinalist Karen Khachanov beat Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3, repeating his win over the Canadian from New York.

Djokovic is three wins from a seventh Beijing title. Catch the China Open live on TVRivo.