Djokovic Extends His China Open Streak to 31 Wins — After a Three-Set Scare from Bu Yunchakete
China's top men's tennis player pushed Novak Djokovic to a deciding set over nearly three hours in Beijing, but the Serbian's 31-match China Open winning streak survived — and so did a debate about a home crowd that applauded his opponent's errors.
Novak Djokovic's unbeaten run at the China Open now stands at 31 matches — but for nearly three hours on Friday night in Beijing, it wobbled. Bu Yunchakete, China's top-ranked men's player, took the first set 6–4 off the 24-time Grand Slam champion; Djokovic edged the second-set tiebreak 7–2 and pulled away 6–2 in the third, advancing 4–6, 7–6 (2), 6–2 into the quarterfinals. It was only his second match at the tournament since returning after more than a decade away.
Chinese fans processed the near-upset the way they process most things: as a martial-arts film. Within hours the pair had been photoshopped onto a poster for "Swordsman II", the 1992 wuxia classic whose Chinese title, 笑傲江湖Ⅱ东方不败, ends with "The Undefeated of the East" — with Bu, smiling, cast as the challenger and Djokovic as the reigning master, captioned with the news that his "undefeated golden body" at the China Open held. The casting fits: Djokovic has never lost at this tournament, and one fan's verdict — "Xiao Bu gave the GOAT a proper scare tonight" — was among the gentler ones. At his lowest moments, another poster noted, Djokovic looked like a man who "didn't even want his racket anymore."
The more uncomfortable conversation was about the crowd. Beijing had largely come to see Djokovic; when Bu's first serves missed their mark, applause rippled around the arena, and the home player left the court visibly close to tears. "I understand — many people came to Beijing to watch Djokovic, and if he hits a good shot I'd cheer too (I love him as well)," wrote one tennis commentator, before turning the question on the crowd: "But does a missed first serve really deserve applause? Xiao Bu hardly deserves this." The hashtag that caught the mood — #Bu Yunchakete's home ground feels like an away tie# — trended into the early hours.
For Chinese tennis, the evening still read as progress. Bu has spent the past two seasons climbing toward the sport's top table, and taking a set off its most decorated player, on home soil, is the strongest evidence yet that there is depth behind China's breakout generation. The divided loyalties in the stands are part of the same picture, in a way: Chinese tennis fans are still learning how to root for one of their own against a visiting legend, and Friday showed they haven't quite figured it out. Bu's task now is to make the support feel automatic — by giving Beijing a reason to roar for him first.
Djokovic moves on to a quarterfinal with a 31-match record at the event he has never lost. Bu leaves with something harder to score: a fanbase newly convinced he belongs on the same court as the man on the poster.
