Yunchaokete, surrendered to Djokovic: "Now I understand why he is the GOAT"

Fernando Murciego - 2 Oct 2026 | 19:35
ATP Bu Yunchaokete Novak Djokovic ATP Pekín 2026 Rueda de prensa

The Chinese tennis player was not far from achieving the biggest victory of his professional career this Friday, but he ultimately discovered the difficulty of having Novak Djokovic on the other side of the net.

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Yunchaokete, surrendering to Djokovic: "Now I understand why he is the GOAT."

After a match that will need reviewing to understand what happened, Bu Yunchaokete appeared at a press conference to analyze his defeat against Novak Djokovic at the ATP Beijing 2026. A match that started off well but ended up in the hands of the greatest of all time.

And that was despite the fact that Djokovic is not currently wearing the GOAT suit at tournaments, although the guy did feel like he was facing a player with all the resources in his racket to come out unscathed from any trouble. It gets harder for the Serbian every time, but this Friday he served us a new example of perseverance and self-love for the competition. Yunchaokete couldn’t celebrate what would have been an unforgettable victory, but the mere fact of sharing the court with the player from Belgrade was enough for him to smile throughout the conference.

Yunchaokete and a battle that left him exhausted

“Right now I just feel empty. I don’t know what he was doing; he was doing everything very well. After about two hours, I was actually tired. I felt my level drop a bit. For him, it was nothing. He just started, started to warm up. The rest was incredible. My serve was no longer working. Everything was coming back very deep. I had no chances. Then I felt a lot of pressure because the ball always came back. I had to do more and more, and sometimes I forced things. In the end, I made the double fault. I felt like the court was too small for me. He was everywhere, didn’t miss, and didn’t give me any free points. That’s how he plays, and today I accept it. I just congratulate him.”

The impact of facing the Serbian

“To be honest, I feel quite empty. Right now, I feel empty. I’m surprised by him. I was facing a 40-year-old man. After more than two hours, there was no drop in his energy. I’m 25 years old and I was exhausted. My level dropped, but he was just starting. He was just warming up. I’m speechless. I value this opportunity a lot because I don’t have many chances to face him. I have been playing on the tour for three years, and this was the first time I played against Djokovic. I fought point by point. Overall, I think it was a match of very high quality. This is his tennis, his style; that’s why he’s the GOAT and why he was able to defeat Federer and Nadal. Everything makes sense.”

When victory seemed within reach

“In the second set, honestly, I felt I was very close to victory and could see he was tired at that moment. At the end of the second set, I accepted it. At the start of the third, he raised his level a lot. He read my mind very clearly. He always placed the ball where I wasn’t comfortable. In the second set, you could see from the score that I was very close to winning. At the beginning of the third, he broke me twice, and then I drifted away from victory. When you play against players of this level, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance. I would simply pull out of a match like this if I didn’t believe I had a chance to win. It would be irresponsible towards myself and my team. The day you don’t see me on the court will mean I see no chance of winning.”

The assessment of the last few months

“My biggest goal was not fulfilled today. According to my plan, from the first half of the year until the grass season, I wanted to conserve my energy for the US Open and also for the Asian tour. I conserved that energy very well and put a lot in here. Unfortunately, before the US Open, I was injured for three weeks. I missed Montreal and the hard court matches of the Davis Cup. Luckily, I was able to recover before the US Open. It was consistent with my preparation plan. When you have energy and your level of play is there, you can endure and feel that you enjoy the matches rather than suffer through them. That is much in line with my plan and with the support of my team. This week I prepared very well physically, strategically, and mentally. I was able to perform well at the US Open, Hangzhou, and Beijing.”

The respect of facing Novak Djokovic

“Of course, he has given a lot to this sport, he has done much for this industry, and he has taken tennis to a higher level. The number of Grand Slams he has won is the highest in history. Of course, he deserves respect. What happened tonight is very common; it doesn’t only happen when he plays against a Chinese player. It probably happens the same when he plays in the United States or Europe. He deserves all the recognition. I was mentally prepared for the atmosphere today. It didn’t affect me at all. I was completely immersed in the match. I thought he deserved that support. I have nothing to complain about.”

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Yunchaokete, rendido ante Djokovic: “Ahora entiendo por qué es el GOAT”