Novak Djokovic looked like a different player at the China Open compared to what was on display in Cincinnati and New York. The 39-year-old lost early in his previous two events and was far less than 100 percent in both, but he captured another Beijing title earlier this week. Djokovic is 34-0 lifetime at that tournament with seven titles.
The Serb now heads to the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he is also quite good. Djokovic is 43-7 all time and has lifted the trophy four times (2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018). Not once in his entire career has he ever lost prior to the quarterfinals in Shanghai.
Up first for Djokovic on Friday evening is a ninth showdown against Hubert Hurkacz, who is getting swept 8-0 in the head-to-head series. Some good news for Hurkacz is that only three of their results have been straight-setters, and their last match in the 2025 Geneva final went to a third-set tiebreaker.
Like Djokovic, Hurkacz kicked off his Asian swing in impressive form. The 34th-ranked Pole finished runner-up to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Chengdu and reached the Beijing semis before retiring against Alex de Minaur with a thigh injury (De Minaur eventually retired against Djokovic in the final).
Hurkacz did well to defeat James Duckworth 6-3, 7-6(4) on Thursday, but is he really going to be 100 percent after already playing nine matches in Asia? Probably not. He is also facing perhaps the best returner of all time, so Hurkacz won’t win as many free points with his booming serve as he normally does.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
WWW?