Novak Djokovic claimed his record-extending seventh China Open title and the 102nd trophy of his career on 6 October 2026 in Beijing after Alex de Minaur was forced to retire injured in the final.
The 39-year-old Serbian, seeded sixth, defeated the fifth-seeded Australian 7-6(3), 0-1 (retired) at the National Tennis Center. De Minaur, then ranked world No. 9, suffered a groin injury involving his left thigh that ended the match early after a hard-fought first set.
Match Details
The opening set was a high-quality, physical baseline battle lasting more than an hour with no breaks of serve. Both players held throughout. De Minaur created a break-point opportunity in the fifth game, but Djokovic saved it with a full-stretch backhand down the line. The set reached a tiebreak, which Djokovic dominated 7-3 by capitalizing on several errors from the Australian.
Both players then took medical timeouts. Djokovic received treatment (reportedly related to his abdomen, an issue noted earlier in the week), while de Minaur left the court and returned with his left thigh heavily bandaged. De Minaur held serve to open the second set, making the score 7-6(3), 0-1, but then retired after walking to the net, stating he did not feel well enough to continue. The match lasted approximately 1 hour and 23 minutes.
During the trophy ceremony, de Minaur apologized: “I don’t feel great… I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans. I didn’t want to finish like this… hopefully see you next year.” Djokovic responded with sympathy: “I’m really sorry for the way you had to finish today and I really hope that you can recover quickly.” The Serbian later described mixed emotions, saying he wanted to celebrate the win but felt it was not right to be overly joyful given the circumstances of the retirement.
Path to the Title and Tournament Context
Djokovic returned to the China Open after an 11-year absence (his previous appearances and titles came through 2015). He entered as the No. 6 seed and extended his perfect record at the event to 34 wins from 34 matches. En route to the final he defeated Nuno Borges, Yunchaokete Bu, and top seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Daniil Medvedev was defaulted while trailing 7-5, 5-3 after hitting a spectator with a ball.
De Minaur’s path was also affected by injury: he advanced to the final when Hubert Hurkacz retired in their semifinal. Both semifinals thus ended prematurely.
This was Djokovic’s first title of the 2026 season and his first since the Athens Open in November 2025. It marked the 21st consecutive year in which he has won at least one ATP singles title—an Open Era record. At 39, he became the oldest ATP 500 champion since the category was introduced in 2009 (surpassing Roger Federer’s previous mark from Basel 2019 at age 38) and the first man aged 39 or older to win a Tour-level title since Ken Rosewall (age 43) in Hong Kong in 1977.
Historical Significance
• China Open dominance: Seven titles in seven appearances, with just five sets dropped across those campaigns and victories over numerous top-10 players. Beijing is statistically one of the strongest events on Djokovic’s résumé.
• Career titles: The 102nd moves him one behind Federer’s 103 and further behind Jimmy Connors’ Open Era-leading 109.
• Longevity: The win underscores Djokovic’s extraordinary durability into his late 30s, following a challenging year that included physical and health issues. He had spoken of visualizing the trophy in Beijing while acknowledging the different realities of competing at this stage of his career.
The abrupt ending added to an unusual week in Beijing, but the result further cemented Djokovic’s status as the undisputed “King of Beijing.” He was scheduled to continue in Asia at the Rolex Shanghai Masters shortly afterward.
