Novak Djokovic has beaten the world No. 1 and the world No. 2 in 2026. No other player on the ATP Tour has done both.

That stat is holding up his season through a year of out-of-character defeats mixed with the occasional reminder of what he can still do. The latest came in Beijing this month, where Djokovic beat top seed Alexander Zverev in the China Open quarterfinal on his way to a seventh title at the event. The first came in Melbourne in January, when he outlasted Jannik Sinner in a five-set semifinal that ran past 1:30am local time.

Sinner, world No. 1 all year, has since ended his 2026 season early with a knee injury, and Zverev is on course to replace him at the top of the rankings before the end of the year.

A seventh China Open title and a 34-0 record in Beijing

The Beijing trophy was Djokovic’s 102nd ATP tour-level title. His path to it was unusual. After seeing off Zverev, he was leading Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-3 in the semifinal when the Russian was defaulted for hitting a ball into the stands that struck a spectator. The final against Alex de Minaur lasted barely a game of the second set before the Australian retired at 7-6(7-3), 0-1.

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That still gave Djokovic a seventh title at the event and extended his career record there to 34-0. Earlier in the year, he had beaten defending champion Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the Australian Open semifinal, a match that lasted four hours and nine minutes.

“I’m lost for words right now. It feels surreal, to be honest,” he said after the match.

Djokovic lost that final to Carlos Alcaraz, reached the Wimbledon semifinal in July, then drifted. The China Open run was the first title of his year.

The Turin maths and a Basel return after 17 years

Zverev, Alcaraz and Ben Shelton have so far booked their places at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, with five of the eight singles slots still open. Djokovic sits outside the top eight in the Race to Turin, with only Basel and Paris left to make up the gap.

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He has accepted a wildcard at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, which begins on 26 October, his first appearance there since 2009. The ATP tour framed the return in three words on X: “17 years on …”. He is also entered at the Rolex Paris Masters, which runs from 2 to 8 November, with defending champion Sinner absent through injury.

A deep run at both would be enough to force his way inside the top eight.

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