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Novak Djokovic came back from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday, extending his unbeaten China Open run to 32 matches and breaking Rafael Nadal's record for the best unbeaten start at a single tour-level tournament in the Open Era.
The 39-year-old Serbian, who has never lost at the Beijing tournament, moved to 32-0 at the China Open and went past Nadal's previous mark of 31 consecutive victories at Roland Garros.
Zverev, the reigning French Open and U.S. Open champion, appeared capable of ending Djokovic's perfect Beijing record after taking the opening set 6-4.
Djokovic, however, worked his way back into the match and broke the German at 5-4 in the second set before serving it out to force a deciding set.
The deciding set developed in similar fashion, with neither player pulling away until Djokovic again broke Zverev at 5-4.
He then closed out the match after two hours and 35 minutes, keeping alive his bid for a record-extending seventh China Open title.
Djokovic will next take on third seed Daniil Medvedev, who advanced by beating Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
The women's tournament was also shaken up after its two highest seeds were eliminated in successive rounds.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out in the third round by Czech 26th seed Nikola Bartunkova, who defeated the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3.
Bartunkova, ranked No. 34 in the world, completed the biggest victory of her career in one hour and 35 minutes.
Her win came a day after newly crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was eliminated by 118th-ranked Alina Charaeva.
Charaeva recovered after dropping the opening set to beat the top seed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The results mean that neither of the top two women's seeds has reached the China Open round of 16 for the first time since 2015.
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