Novak Djokovic won the China Open on Tuesday after his opponent Alex de Minaur retired from the final, extending an astonishing unbeaten streak in Beijing and winning the 102nd title of his career.
The 39-year-old Serbian won the first set in the tie-break 7-6 (7/3) and was down a game in the second set when the Australian ended the match early.
"I always want to visualise myself with the trophy, particularly here in Beijing," Djokovic said during the trophy ceremony.
"But I was also quite aware that reality is a little bit different these days," he said, adding that it had been a challenging year with "physical and health issues".
"I was just trying to find the good feeling on the court," he said.
The first set was a physical battle that lasted more than one hour, and both men needed medical timeouts before the second.
De Minaur, the world No 9, won the first game of the second set before retiring.
It was not immediately clear why de Minaur left the match, but he walked back onto the court after his medical timeout with a white wrap around his left thigh.
"I don't feel great," de Minaur told the crowd afterwards.
"I want to say sorry to the amazing fans that came to watch... I didn't want to finish like this," the 27-year-old added.
De Minaur advanced to the final after his opponent Hubert Hurkacz retired injured from their semifinal on Monday, while Djokovic moved through when Daniil Medvedev was disqualified for hitting a fan with a ball.
With the win, Djokovic extended a perfect record to 34 wins in as many matches for his seventh title in the Chinese capital – his first since 2015.
He put on a valiant show to lift the trophy, ousting top seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal and coming back to defeat home hopeful Bu Yunchaokete in a demanding three sets.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, will finish the season with a title for the 21st consecutive year.
'REALLY GRATEFUL'
In the women's draw, Karolina Muchova beat former world No 1 Naomi Osaka on her ninth match point to reach the quarterfinals, triumphant in a tense tie-break.
Muchova, the seventh seed, overcame 50 unforced errors across the two-hour-and-52-minute match to beat Osaka 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (9/7).
Osaka, who represents Japan, saved eight match points but could not get past Muchova's match-winning volley.
"I was shaking. I'm happy I made the last volley... Naomi could be standing here. It's me, and I'm really grateful for it," the 30-year-old Czech player told the crowd.
She next faces compatriot Nikola Bartunkova.
Earlier, Russia's Mirra Andreeva beat Ukraine's Daria Snigur 6-2, 6-2 to book her quarterfinal spot against fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Alexandrova, ranked 28th, upset Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 6-2, 6-2, ending the Czech player's bid to return to the Beijing final that she reached last year.