Bu Yunchaokete left “speechless” after Djokovic duel

As the final point landed, applause and cheers for the victor echoed across the Diamond Court.

On the other hand, Bu Yunchaokete had lost a hard-fought battle that lasted nearly three hours. As he packed his bag and walked toward the player tunnel, the scoreboard remained fixed at 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2.

The 24-year-old Chinese player was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the second round of the China Open men’s singles. Known for his resilient style and hard-hitting game, Bu pushed the legend to his limit before exiting in the Round of 16.

However, what happened on the court that night was far more compelling than the score alone. Bu took the opening set 6-4 against the six-time China Open champion. In the second set, Djokovic was seen bending over with his hands on his knees in fatigue and requested a medical time-out, as the two pushed each other into a tiebreak. The fans were on the edge of their seats with every point, feeling that victory was well within reach for both players. It was not until the deciding third set that the 39-year-old legend finally sealed the victory.

"I am shocked by him,” Bu said. "This is a 40-year-old man I'm facing. In more than two hours, there's no decline in his energy. I'm a 25-year-old, but I'm exhausted. My level dropped, but he was just starting. He was just warming up. I am speechless.

"I really value this opportunity because I do not have that many opportunities to face him. I've been playing for three years on the tour, and that was my first time playing with Djokovic. I was fighting point by point. 

"Overall I think it was a really high-quality match. This is his tennis, his style, why he is the G.O.A.T., why he was able to defeat Federer, Nadal. It all makes sense.”

During the post-match press conference, Bu spoke about the turning point of the match: “After two hours, I felt my physical stamina fading a bit, while he seemed like he had just warmed up. His return of serve was incredible. Every single serve I hit came right back. After the second set, I felt an overwhelming amount of pressure.”

The young player standing across from Djokovic built his career through one tough battle after another. Born in Xinjiang in 2002, Bu left home at age five to train in tennis. He won the Orange Bowl U14 title at 14 and gradually worked his way up through ITF Futures tournaments. At the 2024 China Open, entering as a wildcard, he defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey Rublev back-to-back, becoming the first Chinese player to reach the men's singles semifinals at the tournament. Now ranked No. 104 in the world, he faced Djokovic after finding his momentum again at the US Open and the Hangzhou Open.

Before the match, being confident but respectful, Bu made a statement: “When I step onto the court, I will definitely play to win. I can’t just think about learning from him. Learning is for reflecting after the match.”

At the press conference, a reporter followed up on that quote, asking: “Tonight, do you feel you were closer to beating Djokovic, or further away?”

“During the second set, I really felt close to victory,” he replied. “But at the start of the third set, he broke my serve twice in a row, and naturally, victory felt very far away. That’s the reality.”

Even as reality pulled success further away, his belief in winning never wavered.

“If I didn't believe I could win, I would have no reason to step onto the court,” he said. “If you ever see a day where I refuse to walk onto the court, that will be the moment I truly stopped believing I could win.”

In his own press conference, Djokovic praised Bu as a warrior and a fighter. For a 24-year-old challenger, earning such words from a six-time tournament champion after a nearly three-hour battle is a high compliment in itself.

Bu lost this battle, but beyond winning and losing, he gained much more. He shows the world that a new generation of players wants not just to stand on the big stage, but to win on it. He can afford to lose, but more importantly, he has what it takes to win. He will go back to court. He will be back still only for the victory.

By Rong Xinyue, Ye Ruixi