Djokovic vs Zverev is the marquee quarterfinal at the China Open on Sunday in Beijing, a night-session match set to start no earlier than 7 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET). Novak Djokovic, unbeaten in Beijing, meets world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, the US Open champion, in a rematch of their 2025 French Open meeting.
Djokovic vs Zverev: the matchup
Djokovic leads the head-to-head 9-5, including 7-3 on hard courts, Tennis Up To Date reported. He won their most recent meeting in four sets at Roland Garros in 2025, and the pair have split their last six matches.
Djokovic vs Zverev carries extra weight here, and Zverev knows it. “He’s never lost here,” he said of Djokovic, calling Beijing one of the Serbian’s favorite courts, per Tennis Up To Date.
Djokovic’s perfect Beijing record
Djokovic is 31-0 at the China Open and has won the event six times. He is 39 and has not won an ATP title this season. This is his first China Open since 2015 and his eighth tournament of 2026, according to Sky Sports.
He arrived in Beijing after a five-set loss to Mariano Navone in the first round of the US Open, a match in which he was sick on court several times. The result dropped him out of the top 10 for the first time in eight years and left him 15th in the Race to Turin. In Beijing he beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (2) after receiving treatment, then rallied past Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, according to ESPN’s match data. He said his body felt good in Beijing. “Overall, it’s been really good so far with the body,” he told reporters, per Sky Sports.
Zverev’s best season
Zverev is the second seed and has not dropped a set this week. He beat Cameron Norrie 7-6 (1), 6-4 and Shang Juncheng 6-0, 6-3. He won his second Grand Slam title at the US Open in September, beating Ben Shelton in four sets, and helped Team Europe win the Laver Cup in London, the ATP Tour said.
With top-ranked Jannik Sinner out of Beijing, Zverev has a chance to gain ground in the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking. Djokovic, meanwhile, is chasing a 102nd tour-level title and a better spot in the Race to Turin. We covered both players earlier this season in our reports on Djokovic at the French Open and Zverev at the French Open.
What comes next
The Djokovic vs Zverev winner will meet the winner of the Daniil Medvedev-Francisco Cerundolo quarterfinal in Monday’s semifinals. Hubert Hurkacz and Alex de Minaur are already set for the other semifinal. See the ATP Tour’s Beijing preview for the full draw.
