20 years since Beijing’s bow! Champions in the Chinese capital

pFor the past 20 years, Beijing has been home to the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a, an outdoor hard-court tournament that has attracted some of the ATP Tour's biggest names. /p

p The ATP 500, which has been a combined event since its inception in 2004 after the WTA Tour moved its WTA 1000 from Shanghai, has been won by a host of notable champions, including a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marat-safin/s741/overview'Marat Safin/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a, and most recently, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a./p

p Ahead of the 20th anniversary edition of the event, ATPTour.com looks back on some of the men's singles champions in Beijing./p

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p strong2004: Safin, Beijingrsquo;s First Championbr /

/strongThere can hardly have been a more emphatic first champion in Beijing than Safin. The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings competed as the fifth seed in the inaugural edition of the ATP 500 and he did not drop a set all week./p

pSafinrsquo;s dominance in the Chinese capital kick-started a red-hot run on the hard courts. He won ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Paris later that year, before lifting his second Grand Slam title at the 2005 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a./p

pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/09/20/13/15/safin-beijing-2004-trophy.jpg" style="width: 100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marat-safin/s741/overview'Marat Safin/a" /br /

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a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marat-safin/s741/overview'Marat Safin/a lifts the trophy at the inaugural a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a in 2004. Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images/sup/sub/em/p

p strong2005 amp; 2017: Nadal Bookends in Beijingbr /

/strongNadal won the Beijing title on his both his event debut in 2005 and his most recent appearance there in 2017. He defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/juan-carlos-ferrero/f316/overview'Juan Carlos Ferrero/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/guillermo-coria/c524/overview'Guillermo Coria/a en route to the 2005 crown, a title run that in came in the midst of his stunning breakout season during which he won 11 tour-level titles overall. /p

p Twelve years later, in 2017, the Spaniard triumphed in Beijing once again, despite facing two match points in his first-round match against former World No. 10 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lucas-pouille/pf39/overview'Lucas Pouille/a. Nadal defeated three opponents from the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings mdash; a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/john-isner/i186/overview'John Isner/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nick-kyrgios/ke17/overview'Nick Kyrgios/a mdash; to cap his run in the Chinese capital./p

p "It is an important title for me," said Nadal after his 2017 triumph. "The last year that I had the trophy with me was in 2005. In 2005 I never would have believed that I will keep playing tennis in 2017... I'm very happy."/p

pimg src="/-/media/images/articles/nadal-beijing-2024-20-years-on.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a" /br /

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ema href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a wins the 2017 Beijing title. Photo Credit: Etienne Oliveau/Getty Images/em/sup/sub/p

p strong2008: Roddick, Beijingrsquo;s Only American Winnerbr /

/strongIn 2008, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a achieved history by becoming the first and only American to raise a title at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a./p

pThe 2003 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a champion lifted his fifth and final ATP 500 title in Beijing, where he defeated his fellow former World No. 1 Ferrero in the quarter-finals and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dudi-sela/sc56/overview'Dudi Sela/a in the championship match. /p

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pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/09/20/13/08/roddick-beijing-2008-backhand.jpg" style="width: 100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a" /br /

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a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a in action during the 2008 Beijing championship match. Photo Credit: Andrew Wong/Getty Images/sup/sub/em/p

pstrong2009-10, 2012-15: The Djokovic Dynasty in Beijingbr /

/stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a has become synonymous with Beijingrsquo;s tournament. The Serbian holds a 29-0 record at the ATP 500. /p

p In 2009, the Serbian defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marin-cilic/c977/overview'Marin Cilic/a in straight sets to win his first a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a title. The victory over the Croatian opened the door to years of Djokovic dominance in the Chinese capital, including titles in five of the next six years span style="color: #000000;"(2009-10, 2012-15)/span. The former World No. 1 has won the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a six times, a tournament record, without dropping a single set in the final on any occasion./p

p"This is right at the top, one of the best achievements I've had in my career," said Djokovic prior to his 2015 championship-match clash with Nadal. "Every time I keep coming back, I have these positive, great memories from the success, the great performances I had on the centre court, support, just overall feel is very positive. I try to use that in my favour." /p

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pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/09/20/13/12/djokovic-beijing-2015-celebration.jpg" style="width: 100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a" /br /

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a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a defeats a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a in the 2015 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a final. Photo Credit: Chris Hyde/Getty Images/sup/sub/em/p

pstrong2016: In the Midst of Murray Magicbr /

/stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a arrived at Beijing in 2016 on the backdrop of a remarkable year. The Scot was in the midst of an incredible season that included becoming the first player to win back-to-back Olympic Gold medals, while also winning the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a championships and reaching two other major finals (a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a, French Open)./p

pIn the 2016 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a, Murray capped off a dominant year, by defeating two former Top 10 players to win his first title at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a. Murray won 26 straight matches to finish the year as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF./p

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pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/09/18/20/25/murray-beijing-2024-20-years-on.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a" /br /

emsupa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a won his sole Beijing title in 2016. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images/sup/em/p

pstrong2023: Sinner flourishes in Beijingbr /

/strongOne of the key moments of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a's breakthrough 2023 season was in Beijing, where he defeated two Top 3 players, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a, to lift the title. Medvedev had won all six of their previous Lexus ATP Head2Head matchups./p

pSinnerrsquo;s impressive form carried over to 2024, when he won his maiden major at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a before becoming the first Italian No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history in June./p

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pspan style="color: #000000;"With these historic moments in mind, the stage is set for this year's edition of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a, which will be played from 26 September-2 October./span/p

pspan style="color: #000000;"Will a Chinese man break through to triumph on home soil? a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/zhizhen-zhang/z371/overview" target="_blank"Zhang Zhizhen/a, who recently won the mixed doubles silver medal in the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/paris/96/2024/results'Paris Olympics/a, is the country's leading hope. Other home favourites to watch include #NextGenATP a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/juncheng--shang/s0re/overview" target="_blank"Shang Juncheng/a andnbsp;span dir="ltr" class="ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak" style="color: #000000;"a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/yunchaokete-bu/y09v/overview" target="_blank"Buyunchaokete/a./span/span/p

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pspan style="color: #000000;"/span[NEWSLETTER FORM] /p