Novak Djokovic has won the 2026 China Open to end his 11-month wait for an ATP Tour title.
The 39-year-old Serbian has enjoyed an illustrious 23-year career in tennis, but it's fair to say that success has dried up in more recent years.
Prior to his success in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, Djokovic's last ATP event triumph dates back to November 2025, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti to win the Hellenic Championship in Athens.
Victory in Greece added to to his Geneva win earlier in the season, but it was a relatively underwhelming calendar year on the title front -- which followed a 2024 campaign where his only win came at the Paris Olympics.
After a challenging 2026, Djokovic has his first ATP Tour title under his belt and will no doubt be looking to add to his success in the latter stages of the season.
Djokovic is historically dominant at the China Open, and he extended his success at the 2026 edition after returning for the first time since 2015, where he defeated Rafael Nadal to clinch a record sixth honour.
He commenced his tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Nuno Borges in the first round, before overcoming Yunchaokete Bu by two sets to one in the round of 16.
In one of his more impressive victories in recent times, the Serbian great defeated world number two Alexander Zverev 2-1 to reach the semi-finals. With his victory against the German, Djokovic moved past Nadal for the best start at a single event by a men's singles player in the Open Era, clinching his 32nd China Open victory without defeat.
His record-extending 33rd China Open win came in peculiar, yet convincing fashion in the semi-final against Daniil Medvedev.
The 39-year-old was set to serve for the match in the second set, but Medvedev was disqualified after striking a spectator with a tennis ball -- an automatic disqualification under the tournament rules.
Djokovic then became the 2026 champion in Beijing after his final opponent Alex de Minaur was unfortunately forced to retire due to injury at 7-6(3), 0-1.
