Alexander Zverev claims Novak Djokovic “barely missed” from the baseline in their China Open quarterfinal.
Djokovic believes Zverev is the best player in the world, and so he couldn’t hold back his joy after defeating the current French Open and US Open champion in Beijing. In a two-hour, 34-minute thrilling battle at the China Open, the Serbian came from behind in epic fashion to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Zverev also spoke highly of Djokovic in the immediate aftermath, referencing another epic win from the veteran, when he beat Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year. He particularly praised his ATP rival’s serve and baseline game, which he has now claimed can be compared to what it was like five years ago.
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Alexander Zverev praises Novak Djokovic’s baseline game in China Open loss
Zverev spoke to the media in Beijing afterwards, where he was asked what he was impressed or surprised by from Djokovic. He responded: “I think his serving today was standing out a lot. I think he got out of a lot of tough situations, especially in the second and third set, with serve.
“I think that his baseline game was basically the way it was five years ago. I mean, he barely missed. It was very, very flat, very through the court a lot. I think, yeah, probably either the best or second best match he played this year. I think this one and the one with Jannik in Australia, those matches stand out. I think it was a very, very different level than we saw in the last couple of months from him.”
It has indeed been a superb showing from Djokovic so far, which may come as a surprise given that he lost his opening matches in both Cincinnati and the US Open, his last two tournaments before the China Open. At the same time, however, he boasts a simply phenomenal record in Beijing, where he is now on an extraordinary 32-0 winning run.
| Alexander Zverev | Novak Djokovic | |
| 299 | Serve rating | 299 |
| 19 | Aces | 4 |
| 0 | Double faults | 3 |
| 72/90 (80%) | 1st serve | 65/90 (72%) |
| 51/72 (71%) | 1st serve points won | 53/65 (82%) |
| 10/18 (56%) | 2nd serve points won | 13/25 (52%) |
| 3/5 (60%) | Break points saved | 3/4 (75%) |
| 15 | Service games played | 15 |
Alexander Zverev claims Novak Djokovic was ‘at his very best’ in Beijing
Zverev certainly wasn’t finished there with his praise of Djokovic, although he still feels he could and perhaps should have beaten his veteran opponent. Commenting further on the loss and looking forward to his next event in Shanghai, he said: “Yeah, I mean, again, I think I had a tough one here, for sure. It’s a loss that I could have avoided. I had chances to win this match.
“But I think Novak was at his very best today. Going to trust my abilities in Shanghai. Hopefully I can play even better there and definitely have a better result there.” Zverev has already learned his fate at the Shanghai Masters, with the German meeting Chinese wildcard Wu Yibing or a qualifier in his first match. Intriguingly, he could be reunited with Djokovic in the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 event later this month. Zverev is also in the same quarter as Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur.
