In an absolutely stacked China Open draw, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic could go head-to-head as early as the quarterfinals. Djokovic landed in the top section of the bracket along with Zverev — the No. 1 seed — when the draw ceremony was held on Monday afternoon.
Whether or not Djokovic can make it that far is obviously a big question. The 39-year-old Serb has not looked good physically — and that’s an understatement — since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals. Djokovic dropped his opening match in Cincinnati to Thiago Agustin Tirante and was upset by Mariano Navone in five sets in the U.S. Open first round. As such, it may not necessarily matter that the world No. 11’s Beijing draw through two rounds appears to be favorable. He will kick off his week against Nuno Borges before potentially facing either Juan Manuel Cerundolo or Bu Yunchaokete.
Also in the top half are No. 3 seed and current Hangzhou finalist Daniil Medvedev, No. 8 seed Jakub Mensik, Tirante, Alexander Bublik, and Francisco Cerundolo.
Djokovic’s other recent vanquisher is also in the field, as Navone faces a tough opening match against fifth seed Alex de Minaur. They are in a quarter of the bracket along with Flavio Cobolli and Andrey Rublev. Elsewhere in the bottom half, seeds Felix Auger-Aliassime and Learner Tien have difficult first-round matchups. They will run into Karen Khachanov and Hubert Hurkacz, respectively. Auger-Aliassime and Khachanov just went head-to-head at the U.S. Open, where the Russian prevailed in four sets over a physically compromised opponent.
Other first-round matches to watch in Beijing include Mensik vs. Bublik, Zverev vs. Cameron Norrie, and Rublev vs. Tallon Griekspoor.
check out the entire Beijing draw at the ATP website
who ya got?
Probably Zverev over Tien in the final