Novak Djokovic maintained his remarkable unbeaten record at the China Open by beating Nuno Borges to secure his first victory since reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.
The 39-year-old former world number one struggled in the second set but managed to win 6-3 7-6 (7-2) for his 30th consecutive victory in Beijing, despite it being his first appearance at the event since 2015.
Djokovic revealed in August that he had been suffering from an underlying health problem that has caused particular problems in hot and humid conditions for “the last two years” and that he was far from his best against Portugal’s Borges.
During the second set, he used his racket to stretch his back between matches and needed a medical timeout to receive treatment on his right shoulder.
But despite that, Djokovic fought back for victory in an hour and 50 minutes to set up a second-round match against wildcard Chinese Bu Yunchaokete.
Competing in the tournament for the first time in 11 years, the Serbian, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, is aiming to win the China Open for a record seventh time.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Katie Boulter advanced to the second round of the women’s draw with a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Mai Hontama.
Boulter, 30, cruised to a 6-3 6-4 victory and will now face Czech seventh seed Karolina Muchova in the next round.
Gn sports
