Novak Djokovic arrived in Beijing this year undefeated at the China Open in 25 matches.
He left in the same untarnished condition Sunday, this time without dropping a set as he ran his streak to 29 matches capped by a wince-inducing 6-2, 6-2 win against career rival Rafael Nadal in the final.
The final made you wonder, whatever became of those epic, gut-wrenching, six-trips-to-the-bathroom matches these men used to play?
Two things occurred to change that, one of them mildly surprising, the other totally unexpected: Djokovic, already the equal on any given day of Nadal and Roger Federer et al, has gotten better in 2015.
His statistics this year show it.