Djokovic wins China Open for a record-extending seventh time after Alex de Minaur retired injured early in the second set of Tuesday's final in Beijing. Novak Djokovic took a tight opening set 7-6(3) before the Australian, who had left the court for treatment on his groin, stopped after winning the first game of the second set. The title is the 102nd of Djokovic's career, his first of 2026, and it caps one of the strangest weeks of his career: his semi-final ended when Daniil Medvedev was defaulted for hitting a spectator with a ball, and his final ended with his opponent unable to go on. Here is what happened, what the win means for the records, and what comes next.
Djokovic vs De Minaur: how the China Open final ended
The final at the Capital Group Diamond stadium started at 7pm local time and the first set was dominated by serve. Djokovic faced just one break point in the set and saved it with a spectacular backhand, Flashscore reported, then raised his level in the tie-break to win it 7-3.
Both players then took medical timeouts. De Minaur left the court for treatment on his groin and came back with a heavy bandage on his left thigh, Reuters reported. He held serve to open the second set, but retired immediately afterwards, with the score at 7-6(3), 0-1.
"I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans who came to watch this match," De Minaur said, as quoted by the ATP. "I didn't want to finish like this, so I'm really sorry. To my team, those who are here and also back home, thank you. It's been a great week and I'm sure there's plenty more to come."
Novak Djokovic's 102nd title: closing in on Federer and Connors
The Beijing trophy takes Djokovic to 102 tour-level titles. That puts him one behind Roger Federer's 103, the second-highest total in the Open Era, with only Jimmy Connors (109) ahead of both, according to the ATP.
His record at this event is now unmatched anywhere. Djokovic had won all six of his previous China Open finals, in 2009, 2010 and every year from 2012 to 2015, and the ATP says Tuesday's win makes him 34-0 at the tournament.
He did it at 39. Olympics.com noted that reaching this final already made him the oldest singles finalist at ATP 500 level since the category was created in 2009, beating Federer, who was 38 when he won Basel in 2019.
Djokovic's road to the Beijing title
Djokovic had not played in Beijing since 2015 and arrived after a difficult season. Sky Sports reported that he had played only eight tournaments this year, had dropped out of the top 10, and had recently spoken about a medical condition that causes fatigue and vomiting on court, especially in hot and humid conditions. His last title had come at the Hellenic Championship in Athens almost a year ago, and his best result of 2026 had been a run to the Australian Open final in January, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
His week in Beijing, according to ATP and ESPN results:
• Round of 32: beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6(2)
• Round of 16: beat Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2
• Quarter-final: came from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Semi-final: led Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-3 when Medvedev was defaulted
• Final: led Alex de Minaur 7-6(3), 0-1 when De Minaur retired
Why Daniil Medvedev was defaulted in Beijing
The semi-final was the story that sent "Novak Djokovic" trending on Google worldwide. On Monday, Djokovic was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3, 15-15 when a ball bounced back off the wall behind the court. Medvedev swiped it with a backhand into the stands, where it hit a man in the front row around his left eye. The spectator was helped out of the arena, and Sky Sports reported that organisers later said he had been taken to hospital.
Medvedev was defaulted a few minutes later under the rule against hitting a ball "dangerously or recklessly", as BBC Sport explained. He loses all the ranking points and prize money he earned in Beijing. He apologised straight away. "I feel terribly sorry for him actually and I just hope he's okay," he told the ATP. "It was 100 per cent an accident. You can see that I didn't hit the ball in anger." He added that he hoped to meet the fan and apologise in person.
The incident adds to a long list of flashpoints for the 2021 US Open champion. The Guardian and Sky Sports noted that he was fined £54,000 at the 2025 Australian Open for smashing a net camera, fined again after an angry outburst at the 2025 US Open, and broke his racket several times during a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo this April.
Djokovic knows exactly how it feels. He was defaulted from the 2020 US Open after hitting a line judge with a ball. "I also feel sorry for Daniil because I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified in a big match," he said. "I'm sure Daniil didn't want to do this intentionally."
What the China Open win means for the ATP Finals race
The title also puts Djokovic back in the hunt for the ATP Finals in Turin in November, an event he has won a record seven times. According to the ATP, he has climbed six places to ninth in the Live Race to Turin and now leads De Minaur, in 10th, by 140 points. Medvedev's default cost him 200 points, which BBC Sport said could prove crucial in his own fight for one of the eight qualifying places.
Fitness is now the big question for both finalists. De Minaur's groin injury comes just before the Shanghai Masters, where Djokovic is also in the draw. For Djokovic, a week that began with questions about his health ended with another piece of history in the city where he has still never lost a match.
Sources: ATP Tour match reports (5 and 6 October 2026); Reuters; BBC Sport; Sky Sports; The Guardian; Olympics.com; Flashscore; ESPN; Google Trends (novak djokovic, 10,000+ searches in the US and UK).
Cover photo: Novak Djokovic at the 2026 US Open, Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York / AndrewHenkelman via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped, resized and captioned.