Novak Djokovic asked if he will play the China Open again: ‘I would like to stay unbeaten’
Novak Djokovic addressed whether he will play the China Open again before retiring after extending his remarkable unbeaten record at the tournament.
The 39-year-old secured a record-extending seventh title at the ATP 500 event in Beijing when Alex de Minaur was forced to retire in the 2026 final on Tuesday.
Djokovic won the first set against de Minaur on a tiebreak, and his Australian opponent was unable to continue due to a thigh injury after holding serve in the first game of the second set.
The Serb’s 7-6(3), 0-1 ret. victory improved his incredible win-loss record at the China Open to 34-0 — which is the best win streak a player has ever achieved at a single tournament before suffering their first loss.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion had not played in Beijing since winning his sixth title at the 2015 edition of the event.
In his post-match press conference, Djokovic was asked about the prospect of returning to the China Open.
“We will see (smiling). I will be back in Beijing, for sure. In which role and how, I don’t know yet (smiling). I don’t know yet, to be honest,” Djokovic replied.
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“I am not making plans for so much ahead right now. I’m kind of more really following of how I’m feeling, how good I’m playing, how quickly I’m able to recover.
“The scheduling sways quite a lot. It’s not as set in stone as it was for 20 years. But I will be back in China, for sure. Let’s see.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be playing a tournament. I would like to. One year is quite a long time, right now, for me to understand my schedule.
“But yeah, I would also like this unbeaten run to stay unbeaten. It would be nice.”
The former world No 1 also spoke about his mindset prior to the tournament.
“Well, I landed here quite early to be honest, Saturday, more than 10 days ago,” Djokovic explained. “I really wanted to get myself in the right shape to prepare as best as I can to be able to have the week that thankfully I had.
“I wanted to keep the streak going. Beijing was always my happy place. It continues to be. I always have high expectations for myself. The goals and desires are always high, particularly in a place where I never lost before.
“I haven’t been here 11 years. I had a year filled with struggle and challenges, not many great results after the finals of Australian Open. Yeah, I didn’t know how I’m going to feel because the American swing was terrible in terms of feeling on the court, health-wise and physically.
“I must say in some of the matches here I did struggle, as well. I managed to kind of push through and really dig deep, turned some matches around.
“Of course, I’m very proud of the achievement here. It came at the best possible time as a confidence booster, as a proof that I can still play on the highest level.
“Winning against three top 10 players in a matter of three days back-to-back is a great achievement. I’m obviously filled with joy.”
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