Novak Djokovic recovered from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev and reach the semi-finals of the China Open.
The 39-year-old Serbian claimed a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over the world number two and will face Daniil Medvedev for a place in the final.
Djokovic’s win also dealt a blow to Zverev’s hopes of finishing the year as the world’s number one.
“These are the kind of moments that I still play for, compete for,” Djokovic said.
“The motivation is big when you are feeling good and competing at par with the best players in the world in front of 15,000 people.
“These are the kind of moments that define dreams, I think, of every tennis player.”
The pair were meeting for the first time in almost 16 months, with Zverev initially making the stronger start. The German capitalised on an early break to take the opening set 6-4.
However, Djokovic responded in the second, breaking Zverev at 5-4 to level the match.
The deciding set remained closely contested before the Serbian struck again at 5-4 on Zverev’s serve to seal the win.
The victory extended Djokovic’s unbeaten run in Beijing to 32 matches as he moved closer to a seventh China Open title and his first trophy of a challenging 2026 season.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has struggled with form and fitness this year but remains determined to compete at the highest level.
“It’s been a struggle this year for different reasons,” he added.
“But I’m still there, still grinding, still making the youngsters work for their money. I’m just glad to push it through.”
Third seed Medvedev secured his semi-final place with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over Francisco Cerundolo.
Elsewhere, Hubert Hurkacz defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to set up a semi-final against Alex de Minaur.
The Australian recovered from a slow start to beat Andrey Rublev 1-6 6-2 6-3.
