Novak Djokovic fought back from a set down to defeat Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 on Friday night and maintain his perfect record at the China Open.
Djokovic, the sixth seed, struggled against the home player early in the match, losing the opening set 6-4. He also appeared to struggle physically during the contest and required treatment on court.
The second set went to a tiebreak, where Djokovic took control by winning five consecutive points to claim it 7-2 and level the match.
He then broke Bu early in the deciding set and moved 4-0 ahead before closing out the match 6-2.
The victory takes Djokovic’s China Open record to 31 wins from 31 matches. He had opened his campaign by beating Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6(2), making it 30-0 before Friday’s match.
After the match, Djokovic praised Bu’s performance, saying the Chinese player hit the ball well, found the right areas of the court and mixed up his shots.
The match lasted close to three hours and finished late in the evening, with Djokovic also thanking the Beijing crowd for staying until the end.
Djokovic will face the winner of Alexander Zverev and Shang Juncheng in the quarter-finals. He has previously faced Zverev 14 times, winning nine of those meetings, while he has never played Shang.
Other results in the China OpenÂ
Daniil Medvedev continued his strong run in Beijing with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Pablo Carreño Busta. The sixth seed will next face Jan-Lennard Struff.
Karen Khachanov also reached the quarter-finals after defeating Alex Molcan 7-5, 6-3. He will face Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Arthur Gea in a three-set battle.
In the women’s draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka made a strong start, defeating Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-3.
Mirra Andreeva also advanced after recovering from a first-set loss to beat China’s Yuan 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
Karolina Muchova defeated Katie Boulter 7-6, 6-1, while Linda Noskova also progressed after beating Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 6-1.
