Novak Djokovic ready for tennis comeback at China Open

The 39-year-old volition measurement backmost onto the tribunal for a competitory lucifer connected Wednesday for the archetypal clip since the US Open.

Novak Djokovic says helium is encouraged by the mode his assemblage has responded earlier the ⁠China Open arsenic ⁠the 24-time tennis Grand Slam champion looks to regain momentum astatine a blessed hunting crushed aft caller fittingness concerns.

“Yeah, feeling bully truthful far,” Djokovic, a six-time China Open champion, said connected Monday.

Djokovic volition instrumentality to enactment for the ⁠first clip since his shock opening-round defeat by Mariano Navone astatine the US Open connected August 30 erstwhile the 39-year-old struggled with enarthrosis and backmost problems and ⁠vomited midway done the match.

The satellite fig 11 volition look to enactment those problems down him erstwhile helium takes connected Portugal’s Nuno Borges successful the archetypal circular successful Beijing this week.

“Obviously it’s wholly antithetic erstwhile you’re playing an authoritative lucifer compared to signifier sets oregon signifier sessions,” helium said earlier his opening crippled connected Wednesday.

“So acold truthful good. I was looking guardant to coming to China, arsenic I ever have. My grounds speaks for itself connected Chinese soil. Knowing that, it besides brings this magnitude of assurance that I truly need.

“Overall, it’s been truly bully truthful acold with the body, the mode ⁠I’m feeling and playing.”

‘Beijing was connected the precedence list’

The erstwhile satellite fig 1 is simply a ⁠massive gully successful Beijing, wherever helium won the rubric successful 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 and holds a 29-0 win-loss grounds astatine the ATP 500 tournament.

The pursuit of a record-extending 25th Grand ⁠Slam rubric remains 1 of the fewer large targets near for Djokovic, who has go progressively selective astir his tourney ⁠schedule successful caller years.

“At this signifier of my career, it’s truly besides astir the tournaments wherever I bask to play, wherever I’ve had the occurrence successful the past, wherever I consciousness similar I’m besides welcomed by the fans successful a affirmative light, successful a ‌positive way,” Djokovic said.

“The past of my results connected Chinese ungraded has been incredible. I haven’t played present successful 11 years. I was trying to marque it enactment successful ‌the ‌past years with the schedule, but it worked successful specified a mode wherever I played lone Shanghai.

“This year, Beijing was connected the precedence list.”