Alex de Minaur faces Novak Djokovic in China Open final before abrupt ending

Alex de Minaur’s bid to win a maiden Beijing title has ended suddenly – and in heartbreak – retiring one game into the second set of the final against Novak Djokovic with a groin injury.

Djokovic, who extended his perfect Beijing tournament record to 34 matches with a seventh title in the Chinese capital on Tuesday night, edged out de Minaur in a 67-minute opening set that required a tiebreak to split them before both players took medical timeouts.

The Serbian tennis legend, 39, received a massage on his diaphragm region, as he has several times throughout the week, before de Minaur left the court for his own treatment.

It is believed the Australian world No.9 called for the trainer after losing the first point in the tiebreak.

De Minaur returned with strapping high on his left leg, and his service speed was significantly down on resumption.

He rolled in a serve then struck a forehand winner to hold, but instantly shook his head before crossing the net to shake Djokovic’s hand and end the contest while trailing 7-6 (7-3), 0-1.

It was a shattering end to de Minaur’s week after a welcome return to form amid an up-and-down season, including early exits at Roland-Garros (third round) and the US Open (second round) as he fights to retain his top-10 ranking and secure a spot at the end-of-year ATP finals.

He cut a forlorn figure during the post-match ceremony, apologising to the Beijing crowd for the abrupt ending to the final after both semi-finals also ended prematurely for contrasting reasons.

“I don’t feel great,” de Minaur said.

“Look, first of all, congratulations to you [Djokovic], your team. It was pretty amazing, as a fan of the sport, to watch the tennis you produced this whole week, so I’m wishing you nothing but the best, so well done.

“As for me, I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans who came to watch this match. I didn’t want to finish like this, so I’m really sorry … it’s been a great week, and I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.”

The unfortunate circumstances meant it was a subdued celebration for Djokovic, who captured the last of his Beijing titles 11 years ago, but played his best tennis in some time to defeat the likes of Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev en route to the final.

“I don’t think it happened ever in my career that I have semis and finals without finishing the match,” Djokovic said.

“I want to celebrate because I think I’ve played one of the best weeks in the last couple of years. At the same time, he [de Minaur] retired the match at the beginning of the second, so it doesn’t feel right and respectful to jump around, and be joyful.

“But deep inside, I’m very proud of this achievement.

“It’s been a challenging year, and many times, I questioned whether I wanted to keep on playing this way, feeling this way on the court. This week has proven me wrong once again and given me a great confidence boost for the rest of the season.”

De Minaur started the event with long odds to qualify for the ATP finals in Turin, but resuscitated his hopes with gutsy three-set victories over Quentin Halys then Andrey Rublev that advanced him to the Beijing semi-finals.

Hubert Hurkacz (adductor) then retired while a set and 3-2 down to de Minaur in their semi-final, while Djokovic booked the other final spot when Medvedev was defaulted for accidentally hitting a spectator with a ball.

Medvedev will forfeit his prizemoney and 200 ranking points from the tournament as part of his sanction.

That is relevant because only the top eight players qualify for Turin, with Medvedev (3020 points) in eighth, ahead of Djokovic (2830) and de Minaur (2690).

There is an extra spot up for grabs after world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who has not played since Wimbledon because of a knee injury, announced on Tuesday that he would not contest another tournament this year.

“Me, together with the doctors, have decided that I need a course of treatment for my knee,” Sinner said in an Instagram video.

As for de Minaur, it is unclear how serious his setback is.

He infamously suffered a proximal adductor avulsion – a rare and severe groin and hip fibre cartilage tear, connected to the adductor – late in his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils at Wimbledon 2024 that resulted in him withdrawing before his quarter-final against Djokovic.

De Minaur played a strong first set in the Beijing final, and it took a remarkable Djokovic backhand passing shot winner to prevent the Australian going up a break in the fifth game.

He played an uncharacteristically loose tiebreak, but that may have owed to his injury.

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