Djokovic had not won a match since Wimbledon. He needed the trainer in Beijing and still made it 30-0

Novak Djokovic had not won a match since the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July. On Wednesday, on his first visit to the China Open in 11 years, he beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6(2) in an hour and 50 minutes, and took his record in Beijing to 30 wins from 30 matches.

The first set followed the old script. Djokovic, seeded sixth, closed the opening game with an ace, and when a pair of double faults gave Borges two break points, he saved both on the way to taking the set 6-3.

The second set was harder going. Djokovic struggled to win points at the start of it and used his racquet to stretch his back between games. After the fifth game he took a medical timeout, and AFP reported that the trainer worked on his right shoulder. The set went to a tie-break, Djokovic won it 7-2, and the match ended when Borges, the world No. 49, returned into the net.

Afterwards, Djokovic said the conditions and the atmosphere in Beijing suit his game.

It's a great pleasure to be back in my happy place.

Novak Djokovic, after the match, via AFP

What the timeout was for, and whether it is linked to his problems in New York, is not yet clear. At the US Open on 30 August, Djokovic led Mariano Navone by two sets to one in the first round, then lost 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 after four hours and 36 minutes. He struggled with shoulder and back problems, vomited during the match and took a medical timeout before the fifth set.

That came two weeks after his opening match in Cincinnati, a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Thiago Agustín Tirante on 15 August in which he saved 13 of the 15 break points he faced while struggling physically. His last win before Wednesday was the five-set quarter-final against Félix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon on 7 July, settled in a fifth-set tie-break, before Jannik Sinner beat him in the semi-finals. The run since then has taken him out of the top 10 for the first time since 2018, and he is now the world No. 11.

He had played down the fitness questions at his pre-tournament press conference on Monday. "Obviously it's completely different when you're playing an official match compared to the practice sets or practice sessions," he said. "But so far so good."

Borges had tried to turn the record into a weapon when the draw was made. "The pressure is on him, and I'll say that as many times as I can!" he said on Monday. It was their second meeting, after Djokovic beat him in the Athens quarter-finals last November on the way to his 101st title.

Djokovic won the title in Beijing in 2009 and 2010, then four years running from 2012 to 2015, and had not been back since. He arrived chasing his 102nd title and his first of the season.

In the second round he plays the Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete, who beat Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 earlier on Wednesday. The draw also puts top seed Alexander Zverev, who opens against Cameron Norrie on Thursday, in Djokovic's quarter.