As Father Time ticks away, 39-year-old Novak Djokovic enjoyed yet another sweet return to the China Open

For a couple of minutes, the Diamond Court was full of whispers.

After some intense rallies at the beginning of the second set, Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur were suddenly shaking hands at the net. Chinese fans – most of whom had been rooting for Djokovic throughout the match – were trying to figure out what had happened.

Among them was Stan Huang, who had traveled all the way from northeastern China to Beijing just to see his favorite player. He desperately checked his phone for an update.

It turned out that de Minaur was unable to continue because of a left adductor strain. The Australian world No. 9 had to retire from the China Open final just after taking the opening game of the second set, with Djokovic leading 7-6(3), 0-1.

That meant that, after an 11-year absence from the China Open, Djokovic claimed his seventh title at the Beijing tournament – a sort of home away from home for the 24-time grand slam singles champion.

For Huang and the thousands of fans in the stands, the unexpected ending was followed by wild excitement.

“I’ve been supporting Djokovic for nearly 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve watch him play in person,” the die-hard fan told CNN Sports . “I am so happy to see him win the title. It has made my dream come true.”

It had not been an easy season for the Serbian, including a loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final and an early exit at the US Open .

Djokovic had seen and conquered all in his tennis career, enough for many to call him the greatest men’s player of all time, but the last few seasons had shown that even he could not beat Father Time.

While he was still near the top of the men’s game, age had taken away that one or two percent extra he had to be able to grind out victories over the elite of the men’s game, particularly Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. So while he consistently neared the finish line in front in grand slams, he would fall agonizingly short in his quest for a record-breaking 25th major title.

Yet Djokovic is still good enough to compete with – and on occasion beat – the very best. Victory in Beijing gave him a tour-level trophy for the 21st consecutive season, an Open Era men’s record. Djokovic’s tour-level title tally now sits at 102, just one behind Roger Federer’s record.

The Serbian superstar also extended his perfect record at China Open to 34-0, after beating Nuno Borges, Bu Yunchaokete, Alexander Zverev – the current world No. 2, who is having a breakout year – and Daniil Medvedev, who was defaulted in the semis for hitting a spectator with a ball.

“I did not expect the stadium to be full for every single match from the first round and people to be so joyful and passionate about me being here, playing in front of them,” Djokovic told reporters in the Chinese capital after the win.

“People make me feel like I’m Chinese, like I’m playing at home.”

At the China Open final, it was apparent that fans were eager to see their adopted hero as he nears the end of his illustrious career. The stands erupted after almost every point Djokovic won and shouts of “ Xiaode Jiayou! ” could be heard throughout the match ( Xiaode means “young Djokovic” and has been his Chinese nickname since early in his career; Jiayou means “keep going”).

And it was also obvious that the 24-time grand slam champion loves them back. During the trophy ceremony, Djokovic responded by greeting the crowd in Mandarin: “How are you? Thank you for your support.”

Djokovic’s matches were among the biggest draws at this year’s China Open. Each of his last three matches attracted more than 13,000 attendees, enough to fill roughly 99% of the Diamond Court’s capacity.

The love from Chinese fans extended well beyond the court. They tracked his schedule, waiting to catch him at training or as he left the venue, hoping for a selfie, an autograph or just a glimpse of him from a distance. Some even waited outside Djokovic’s hotel for hours after his late-night matches.

Huang’s enthusiasm was just as strong. He told CNN Sports that he arrived in Beijing last Saturday afternoon and headed straight to the stadium from the train station for Djokovic’s quarterfinal against Zverev. Then, he went on to watch one of Djokovic’s training sessions, as well as the tennis superstar’s final two matches.

For him, seeing Djokovic win the title at 39 was an inspiration.

“He is still chasing his dream. We should also keep our persistence and follow his spirit,” said Huang, who is only two years younger than the Serbian.

Huanhuan Li and her friends made up a group of seven who traveled from southwestern China to see Djokovic.

“We have all been his fans for many years, and this trip is entirely about him,” Li told CNN Sports in the stands after the final. “I hope he can come back again.”

However, the crowd was readily aware of that dreaded old thing Djokovic had come to known: time. Eleven years ago, Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the China Open final at the same stadium. Now, both Nadal and Federer – the other two of the tennis’s legendary Big Three – have retired.

At his post-match press conference, last-man-standing Djokovic admitted he was not yet sure whether he would return to Beijing next year.

“I am not making plans so much ahead right now. I’m kind of more really following of how I’m feeling, how good I’m playing, how quickly I’m able to recover.”

“It’s not as set in stone as it was for 20 years.”

钻石庭院里顿时充满了窃窃私语。

第二盘开局几轮激烈对攻后，诺瓦克·德约科维奇和亚历克斯·德米纳尔突然在网前握手。此前一直支持德约科维奇的中国球迷们一时不知所措。

其中就包括斯坦·黄，他特地从中国东北来到北京，只为见见自己最喜欢的球员。他焦急地查看手机上的最新消息。

原来，德米纳尔因左侧内收肌拉伤而无法继续比赛。这位世界排名第九的澳大利亚选手在拿下第二盘首局后，以7-6(3)、0-1领先德约科维奇，被迫退出中国网球公开赛决赛。

这意味着，在阔别中国网球公开赛 11 年后，德约科维奇在北京的这项赛事中获得了他的第七个冠军头衔——对于这位 24 次大满贯单打冠军来说，北京就像是他的第二个家。

对于黄和看台上成千上万的球迷来说，出人意料的结局引发了极大的兴奋。

“我支持德约科维奇将近20年了，这是我第一次现场观看他比赛，”这位铁杆球迷告诉CNN体育频道。“我很高兴看到他赢得冠军。这实现了我的梦想。”

对于这位塞尔维亚选手来说，这并非一个轻松的赛季，其中包括在澳网决赛中输给卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯，以及在美网早早出局。

德约科维奇在他的网球生涯中见证并征服了一切，足以让许多人称他为有史以来最伟大的男子网球运动员，但最近几个赛季表明，即使是他也无法战胜时间老人。

尽管他仍然处于男子网坛的顶尖水平，但年龄已经让他失去了战胜男子网坛精英，特别是阿尔卡拉斯和辛纳所需的那百分之一两的优势。因此，尽管他在大满贯赛事中屡屡接近终点线，却始终未能如愿以偿地赢得他职业生涯的第25个大满贯冠军，创下历史纪录。

然而，德约科维奇依然实力强劲，足以与最顶尖的选手一较高下，甚至偶尔还能击败他们。北京的胜利让他连续第21个赛季赢得巡回赛冠军，创造了公开赛时代男子网球的纪录。德约科维奇的巡回赛冠军总数目前为102个，仅比罗杰·费德勒的纪录少一个。

这位塞尔维亚超级巨星在中国公开赛上也保持着34胜0负的完美战绩，他先后击败了努诺·博尔赫斯、布云超克特、目前世界排名第二的亚历山大·兹维列夫（他今年状态正佳）以及丹尼尔·梅德韦杰夫（他在半决赛中因用球击中观众而被取消比赛资格）。

“我没想到从第一轮开始，每场比赛球场都座无虚席，人们为我来到这里，在他们面前比赛而感到如此高兴和热情，”德约科维奇在获胜后于中国首都告诉记者。

“这里的人们让我感觉自己像个中国人，就像在家乡比赛一样。”

在中国网球公开赛决赛上，球迷们显然非常渴望看到他们心目中的英雄——德约科维奇——在他辉煌职业生涯即将结束之际再次亮相。德约科维奇几乎每赢一分，看台上都会爆发出热烈的欢呼声，整场比赛都能听到“小德加油！”的呐喊声（“小德”是德约科维奇职业生涯早期就有的中文昵称，“加油”是“继续努力”的意思）。

很明显，这位24届大满贯冠军也同样喜爱着他们。在颁奖典礼上，德约科维奇用普通话说：“你们好吗？谢谢你们的支持。”

德约科维奇的比赛是今年中国网球公开赛最吸引眼球的比赛之一。他最近的三场比赛每场都吸引了超过13000名观众，几乎填满了钻石球场99%的座位。

中国球迷对德约科维奇的热爱远不止于球场。他们密切关注着他的行程，守候在训练场或他离开赛场的那一刻，希望能与他合影、索要签名，或者仅仅是远远地看一眼。有些人甚至在德约科维奇深夜比赛结束后，在他下榻的酒店外等候数小时。

黄的热情同样高涨。他告诉CNN体育频道，他上周六下午抵达北京，下火车站后就直接前往体育场观看德约科维奇对阵兹维列夫的四分之一决赛。之后，他还观看了德约科维奇的一场训练，以及这位网球巨星的最后两场比赛。

对他来说，看到德约科维奇在 39 岁赢得冠军是一种激励。

“他仍在追逐梦想。我们也应该保持坚持，学习他的精神，”黄说道，他只比这位塞尔维亚选手小两岁。

李欢欢和她的朋友们组成了一个七人小组，从中国西南地区前往观看德约科维奇的比赛。

“我们多年来一直是他的粉丝，这次旅行完全是为了他，”李在决赛后于看台上告诉CNN体育频道。“我希望他能再次回来。”

然而，现场观众都清楚地意识到德约科维奇早已熟知的那个可怕的东西：时间。11年前，德约科维奇正是在同一座球场，在中国网球公开赛决赛中击败了拉斐尔·纳达尔。如今，网坛传奇三巨头中的另外两位——纳达尔和费德勒——都已经退役了。

在赛后新闻发布会上，最终留在赛场上的德约科维奇承认，他还不确定明年是否会重返北京。

“我现在不会做太长远的计划。我更关注自己的感觉、状态以及恢复速度。”

“它不像过去20年那样铁板一块了。”