Novak Djokovic upset top seed Alexander Zverev to reach the semi-finals of the China Open, breaking Rafael Nadal's ATP Tour record for the best unbeaten start at a single event in the Open Era.

Djokovic fought back from a set down to beat the Roland-Garros and US Open champion 4-6 6-4 6-4, bringing up his 32nd straight victory at the Beijing event.

No player has ever held a better record starting from their debut match at an ATP event, with Nadal winning each of his first 31 matches at the French Open and ultimately ending his career with a 112-4 record in Paris.

Sunday's match started in fractious fashion, with Djokovic and Zverev becoming embroiled in a disagreement in just the second game.

After Zverev had broken in the very first game, the German asked for a point in game two to be replayed, arguing a court-side LED screen had changed images and distracted him as he served. 

Djokovic reacted angrily, telling Zverev: "You missed the forehand and then complained. We could rally for 30 shots, I lose the point, and then I'll challenge."

And though Zverev held off some ferocious pressure from the 24-time grand slam champion to take the first set, Djokovic eventually channelled his frustration in a positive way, serving brilliantly in the second set and breaking in game 10 to avoid a tie-break.

And the decider followed exactly the same pattern, coming down to a three-deuce 10th game in which Djokovic wasted two match points before finally getting the job done at the third time of asking, as Zverev's forehand failed to beat the net cord.

Djokovic will now face Daniil Medvedev, who eased past Francisco Cerundolo on Sunday, for a place in the final, against either Alex de Minaur or Hubert Hurkacz.

32 - Novak Djokovic (32-0 at the China Open) now holds the outright-longest winning streak of any player from their maiden match at a single ATP-level event, surpassing Rafael Nadal (31 at Roland Garros). 32!#ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen @atptour pic.twitter.com/QJttLx88Vm

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 4, 2026

Djokovic rolls back the years at favourite event

This year's China Open is the first to feature Djokovic since 2015, but even after 11 years away, his extraordinary unbeaten record in Beijing was already the second-best by any player at a Tour-level event coming into the tournament, at 29-0. 

Now with three more victories under his belt, Djokovic has joined Nadal as the only players to ever win their first 30+ games at any ATP tournament, with runs by John McEnroe (23-0 in Milan and 22-0 in Sydney) and Mats Wilander (23-0 in Barcelona) rounding out the top five. 

Djokovic has gone three years without a grand slam title, with his chances of a record-breaking 25th major crown growing ever slimmer, but he will see this win as proof that he can still compete with the biggest names in the game, as he improved his head-to-head record against Zverev to 10-5, which includes three wins in their last four meetings.

And though Zverev has won his first two majors this year, the injury issues endured by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz certainly helped him, and he now has back-to-back seasons with at least 10 losses to fellow top-20 players.

Since 1973, he is only the second player to do so while ranked in the world's top five, along with Stefan Edberg in 1993 and 1994.