Novak Djokovic will head into the China Open with confidence, having won the title an unprecedented five times (2009, 2010, 2012-14) and having already booked his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Serb is 24-0 at the tournament, beating Marin Cilic in 2009, David Ferrer in 2010, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2012, Rafael Nadal in 2013 and Tomas Berdych, this year’s No.2 seed, for last year’s title.

The top seed opens against a qualifier, and could face big-serving John Isner or young gun Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. The sixth-seeded American and the Austrian are set to duel in a blockbuster first-round encounter.

On the opposite side of the draw, Rafael Nadal, the 2005 champion (d. Coria) and 2013 runner-up (l. to Djokovic), will face Chinese wild card Di Wu in the first round. The World No. 7, seeded third in Beijing, is 45-15 on the year, and is chasing his 54^th tour-level title.

Second seed Tomas Berdych will take on Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in his opening match. Berdych is fifth in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3850 points. Berdych, Nadal (7^th, 3715 points) and David Ferrer (8^th, 3005 points) are well-positioned to secure one of the four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Milos Raonic (who plays Viktor Troicki in the first round) and Isner are on the outside looking in, but could make up ground with deep runs in Beijing.

Ivo Karlovic could break countryman Goran Ivanisevic’s all-time ace record during the China Open. The 6’11” Karlovic is 35 aces back and will open against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Wild cards looking to make a dent in the draw include China’s Di Wu and Ze Zhang, as well as Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu.