Djokovic wins China Open after De Minaur retires

Novak Djokovic on Tuesday won the China Open after his opponent Alex de Minaur retired from the final, extending an astonishing unbeaten streak in Beijing and winning the 102nd title of his career.

The 39-year-old Serbian won the first set in the tiebreak 7-6 (7/3) and was down a game in the second set when the Australian ended the match early.

“I always want to visualize myself with the trophy, particularly here in Beijing,” Djokovic said during the trophy ceremony.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy after winning the men’s singles final against Australia’s Alex de Minaur at the China Open in Beijing on Tuesday.

Photo: AFP

“But I was also quite aware that reality is a little bit different these days,” he said, adding that it had been a challenging year with “physical and health issues.”

“I was just trying to find the good feeling on the court,” he said.

The first set was a physical battle that lasted more than one hour, and both men needed medical timeouts before the second.

De Minaur, the world No. 9, won the first game of the second set before retiring.

It was not immediately clear why De Minaur left the match, but he walked back onto the court after his medical timeout with a white wrap around his left thigh.

With the win, Djokovic extended a perfect record to 34 wins in as many matches for his seventh title in the Chinese capital — his first since 2015.

“I don’t feel great,” De Minaur told the crowd afterward. “I want to say sorry to the amazing fans that came to watch... I didn’t want to finish like this.”

De Minaur advanced to the final after his opponent Hubert Hurkacz on Monday retired injured from their semi-final, while Djokovic moved through when Daniil Medvedev was disqualified for hitting a fan with a ball.