Djokovic wins seventh China Open title after De Minaur retires

Novak Djokovic won his seventh China Open title on Tuesday after Alex de Minaur retired injured in the second set of the final in Beijing.

Djokovic, the sixth seed, took the first set 7-6(3). Both players took a medical timeout after the tie-break, and fifth seed de Minaur came back out after treatment. He won the opening game of the second set, then called it a day, leaving the score at 7-6(3), 1-0 in Djokovic’s favour. “I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans who came to watch this match,” the 27-year-old said. “I didn’t want to finish like this.”

The win extended Djokovic’s unbeaten run in Beijing to 34 matches. He has never lost a match at the China Open. It was his seventh Beijing final, and he has now won all seven. His previous six titles came in 2009, 2010 and from 2012 to 2015.

[See more: FIFA’s Infantino opens Macao football’s first headquarters]

At 39, Djokovic added the 102nd tour-level title of his career. Only Jimmy Connors, with 109, and Roger Federer, with 103, have won more in the Open Era. It also made him the first man in the Open Era to win a tour-level title in 21 consecutive seasons.

Djokovic admitted it was “a bit of a strange feeling” to win that way. He said he still wanted to celebrate after what he called one of his best weeks in a couple of years.

How Djokovic reached the China Open final

Djokovic beat Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, then reached the title match after Daniil Medvedev was defaulted from their semi-final for hitting a spectator with a ball. Djokovic led 7-5, 5-3 at the time.

De Minaur’s path was shorter. He advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired with an adductor injury while trailing 6-4, 3-2 in the other semi-final.