Djokovic wins China Open as de Minaur retires with injury; Alcaraz sinks Lehecka to retain title in Japan
- Last updated: October 7, 2026 | 10:12
Novak Djokovic won his seventh China Open title after Australia’s Alex de Minaur retired with a groin injury during the final on Tuesday.
De Minaur left the court for a medical timeout after losing the first-set tiebreak but played on with his left thigh heavily bandaged. He had to stop after winning the first game of the second set, leaving him trailing 7-6(3) 0-1.
“I don’t feel great ... I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans,” said De Minaur at the trophy presentation.
“I didn’t want to finish like this... hopefully see you next year,” added the 27-year-old fifth seed.
Both semi-finals ended prematurely on Monday, as Hubert Hurkacz retired with an injury and Daniil Medvedev was disqualified for hitting a spectator with a ball.
Sixth-seeded Djokovic’s win continued the Serbian’s unbeaten record at the tournament with 34 straight victories and ensured the 39-year-old won a singles title for the 21st straight year.
“I’m really sorry for the way you had to finish today and I really hope that you can recover quickly,” Djokovic told De Minaur.
The two had gone toe to toe in the first set, targeting the baseline to pressure each other. De Minaur almost broke Djokovic in the fifth game but the Serbian saved the break point with a full-stretch backhand down the sideline.
De Minaur held firm but the 27-year-old’s error count increased during the tiebreak to hand the first set to Djokovic.
An exhausted Djokovic also needed treatment during the break and the 39-year-old was surprised when De Minaur signalled the end of the match.
“This year has been quite challenging for me, lots of ups and downs, physical and health issues,” Djokovic said.
“So I just tried to find a good feeling on the court, and obviously I know that when I’m striking the ball well I can still compete at the highest level.”
Alcaraz wins first title since return from injury
Carlos Alcaraz won his first title since returning from a four-month injury layoff after beating the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in Tuesday’s Japan Open final.
Top seed and defending champion Alcaraz was made to work hard by world number 19 Lehecka in Tokyo before going on to lift his first trophy since the Qatar Open in February.
It was Alcaraz’s third tournament since coming back from a wrist injury, following a run to the US Open quarter-finals and an appearance at the Laver Cup.
“A lot of negative thoughts come to your mind, if you’re going to come back healthy, if you’re going to be the same as I was before,” said Alcaraz.
“A lot of thoughts came to my mind but I tried to put those thoughts away all the time.
“My team and I knew that when I came back I was going to be healthy 100 percent and if I feel something, it’s not going to be anything at all.”
This was the world number three’s third title of the year including the Australian Open, and the 27th of his career.
It came hours after world number one Jannik Sinner announced that he had brought a premature end to his season due to an ongoing knee injury.
Alcaraz went into the final with a 3-1 career head-to-head record against Lehecka, who was looking to win his first title of the year.
Alcaraz had his service broken immediately by a confident-looking Lehecka, who gave his top-seeded opponent no time to settle.
The Spaniard broke back in a long tussle midway through the first set and followed that up with a brutal display of power tennis in the next game.
Lehecka proved a tough nut to crack though, and Alcaraz needed to pull out a pair of spectacular drop shots to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker.
Lehecka continued to give Alcaraz problems but the defending champion went a break up midway through the second set and made no mistakes to close out the victory.
Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Shanghai Masters starting Wednesday.
He pulled out of last year’s tournament at the last minute after winning in Tokyo, blaming “physical issues” and taking aim at tennis’ packed schedule.
Agencies