Alex De Minaur admits he isn’t feeling his best after retiring in the China Open final against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.
De Minaur had a morale-boosting week in Beijing, beating former top-10 players Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz, and rediscovering his famed grit and determination in his comeback win over Quentin Halys.
But like all of Djokovic‘s opponents this week, the Australian came unstuck against the rejuvenated 39-year-old in the Chinese capital.
The Serbian won a gruelling first set 7-6 (3) before both players took a medical timeout. De Minaur left the court to get treatment, and while he was able to win the first game of the second set, he retired soon after.
The 27-year-old is 10th in the ATP Tour Race and will still have desires of reaching the year-end finals. While he didn’t let on too much about his injury, De Minaur was very gracious in defeat.
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He said after the match, “I don’t feel great. Look, first of all congrats to you [Djokovic], mate. To you and your team, it was pretty amazing as a fan of the sport to watch the tennis you produced this whole week. Wishing you nothing but the best, so well done.
“As for me, I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans that came to watch this match. I didn’t want to finish like this, so really, really sorry. To my team, the people that are here and the people that are back home. All the support.
“It’s been a great week and I’m sure there’s plenty more to come. To everyone who made this amazing tournament possible, I would love to come back. Thank you all and hopefully see you next year.”
Meanwhile, Djokovic won a record-extending seventh title in Beijing, taking his win streak to a perfect 34-0. The Serb has now won a remarkable 102 tour titles, putting him just one behind Roger Federer.
Jimmy Connors leads the way on 109 and while that may be a long-term goal for Djokovic, in the short-term, he is now up to ninth in the Race and is back up to eighth in the live rankings.
It remains to be seen if he will compete in Shanghai after this brutal week of tennis.
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