Adoring China Open fans welcome back their champion Djokovic

Novak Djokovic made his fateful return to Beijing, and the city welcomed him with open arms.

For 11 years, Beijing had waited for its six-time China Open champion to return. On Wednesday night, the wait was finally over.

Before Djokovic even stepped onto the court for his 6-3, 7-6 (2) first-round victory over Nuno Borges, the surrounding festivities built anticipation for his return. All around the grounds, people shopped, enjoyed food and played the AI Tennis Swing trainer, among many other games, as classical musicians performed world-famous ballads.

Inside the arena, though, the excitement was even greater.

The on-court action started with the opening ceremonies as tennis fans from across the globe flooded into their seats. A light show projected from the ceiling of Beijing’s premier tennis facility, the China Open’s Diamond Court, illuminating the grounds with all sorts of colorful designs. Ballkids carried 20 China Open flags onto the court to commemorate the tournament’s 20th edition. Two-time Slam winner Alexander Zverev and Chinese superstar, Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, even made cameos.

Then, the lights flipped on.

Out walked Djokovic.

From the moment he entered the arena, he held the sellout 14,000-fan crowd in the palm of his hand.

"I remember from playing here 11 years ago or more that people would come in big numbers to watch tennis matches and their favorite players,” Djokovic said. "They have a great tennis passion and tradition in this city, in this country. They have proven once more that today. They definitely exceeded my expectations.

"I'm very grateful and thankful to be able to be part of such an amazing atmosphere. It was electric, full stadium. I was a bit nervous, really wanting to do well and wanting to win the match, which was my first win since Wimbledon. I'm really glad to overcome the first hurdle. It was a tough match, as expected.

"But yeah, the crowd support was phenomenal.”

When Borges won the opening point of the match, it was met with a collective “oh” from the crowd. When Djokovic claimed the subsequent point, the stadium erupted with cheers.

Chants of “Novak, Novak” and “Let’s go Nole, let’s go” rang out through the arena periodically throughout the match. Several Serbian flags waved, outstretched, in the lower bowl.

“The atmosphere here is crazy. The stadium here is crazy,” said 20-year-old Ben Stevenson, who traveled from Edinburgh, Scotland, to come to the tournament. “I do like Djokovic. I mean, he’s the best player of all time.”

The loudest point of the evening, of course, came when Djokovic won the final point of the match, ending the tiebreak. The capacity crowd rose to its feet.

The Beijing crowd gave their champion everything they had, everything they’d been holding in for the 11 years since he last played in Beijing.

“I didn’t expect him to come back,” said attendee Bi Jing, a resident of Weihai City in the Shandong Province of China. “(I) hope he can stay in good health and win the championship again!”

Based on the buzz in the building tonight, it’s safe to say the city of Beijing agrees.

“What I'm experiencing here throughout my career in China with fans, the interaction that I have with them, I'm not experiencing this anywhere around the world,” Djokovic said. "The passion and incredible loyalty and commitment they have towards me - and I see some other players experiencing something similar in the last 20 years - is just tremendous honestly.

"They come in front of the hotel. They wait. They spend hours just to be able to see you, interact shortly with you, get a signature, picture. It's lovely.

“Honestly, I try obviously primarily to bring back the respect and appreciation with great performance on the court, the reason why I'm here, but at the same time have interaction with them off the court, as well. I'm very, very grateful for their support."

By Yufei Meng, Xinyue Rong, Jackson West, Ruixi Ye