BEIJING — Novak Djokovic stayed unbeaten in Beijing at 31-0 with a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over China's Bu Yunchaokete on Friday to reach the China Open quarterfinals, but needed a medical timeout for the second straight match to get there and dismissed the explanation following him all season: “It’s not stamina. It’s something else. More related to health.”
The 39-year-old, a 24-time major champion, appeared uncomfortable around the ribs against Bu after also requiring treatment in his opening 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over Nuno Borges. He was adamant about the distinction. “People mix it up. It’s not stamina. It’s something else. More related to health,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to be revealing what it is, but I’m trying to get to the bottom of it with my team.” Pressed further, he closed the topic: “That’s all I can say.” He also said, “The truth is that this year has been a big, big struggle for me with a few particular issues,” and “I’ve been just trying to find different ways to be at least giving myself a decent condition physically and health-wise to be on the court and compete with the player across the net.”
Djokovic was candid about the cost. “It’s not fun when you’re feeling like that on the court, because then I’m investing my emotional, mental energy, and physical of course, more on the issues that I’m having rather than thinking about the game,” he said. It has defined a difficult second half of the season marked by fatigue, illness and physical problems involving his back, his shoulder and, in Shanghai last year, on-court vomiting. The low point came at the US Open, where he lost a five-set first-round match to Mariano Navone, his first opening-round defeat at a major in 20 years.
Friday brought brief respite. “Towards the end of the second and all third set, I felt fresher than I have in the beginning of the match,” he said. “The third set today was really enjoyable from that perspective. Finally I get to play tennis without really thinking about all the other things happening.” That contrasted sharply with his pre-tournament assessment on September 28, when he said: “Feeling good so far. Let’s see. Obviously it’s completely different when you’re playing an official match comparing to the practice sets or practice sessions. But so far so good. Overall it’s been really good so far with the body, the way I’m feeling and playing.”
Despite the uncertainty, Djokovic intends to keep playing. “At the moment I’m also not really qualified yet for the race, for the Turin. I mean, this year I would like to play if I qualify. I’m planning also to play Paris Bercy,” he said. “Shanghai, I still don’t know. I need to see how I feel here.” He sits 11th in the live Race to Turin, 50 points behind Taylor Fritz in 10th and 79 behind Rafael Jodar in ninth, with Daniil Medvedev eighth on 3,070 points.