BEIJING — Novak Djokovic maintained his flawless record at the China Open despite needing a medical timeout during his first-round match.
The sixth-seeded Djokovic beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (2) for his first victory since July 7 in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The 39-year-old extended his record to 30-0 at the Beijing tournament, which he has won six times, the last in 2015.
It was Djokovic’s first match since a first-round loss at the U.S. Open on Aug. 31.
He was treated on court by a physio at 3-2 down in the second set, but he didn’t appear to be hindered by the undisclosed issue as he saw out his next two service matches to love and played some of his best tennis of the match after the medical timeout.
There only was one break of serve during the match, by Djokovic in Borges’ first service game.
Djokovic raced ahead in the tiebreak and swiftly racked up four match points. He needed only one as Borges hit a backhand into the net.
Earlier, U.S. Open semifinalist Karen Khachanov continued his recent domination of Félix Auger-Aliassime by 6-3, 6-3.
Khachanov also won their matchup at the U.S. Open en route on to the semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Alexander Zverev.
In Beijing, Khachanov had the only break of the opening set but was helped by 11 unforced errors by Auger-Aliassime. In the second set, Khachanov broke the Canadian’s serve in the third game and again in the final game of the match on four consecutive points.
