Chinees open (mens) winner is Novak Djokovic

BEIJING: Novak Djokovic captured his third ATP title of the year at the China Open on Sunday, outlasting giant killer Marin Cilic of Croatia in a blistering baseline battle, 6-2, 7-6(4).

The Serbian second seed took advantage of a 90-minute rain delay, which came at 2-2 in the first set, coming back on centre court at the Beijing Olympics tennis venue with sharper ground strokes and well-placed serves.

The big-hitting Cilic — who beat fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko and top seed Rafael Nadal en route to the final — kept up a barrage of huge shots from the backcourt but Djokovic mixed up the pace to throw him off, forcing errors.

After holding serve to go up 3-2 in the first, Djokovic broke Cilic straight away and then a second time to take the set, with the 21-year-old Croatian the victim of two unlucky net cords in the final game.

In the second, Cilic — a wild card entry here — and the 22-year-old Serb traded breaks three times to force a tiebreak, with the Croatian failing to serve out the set twice.

Djokovic took control mid-tiebreak, winning a rally that left Cilic sitting on the court to go up 4-2. The Serb closed it out on his second match point when the Croatian sent an inside-out forehand sailing wide.

Djokovic, by reaching the final, is assured of taking over the World No. 3 ranking on October 19, surpassing injured Scot Andy Murray. He has already qualified for the season-ending championship in London in November.

Both men will head straight to Shanghai for the next leg of the ATP Tour’s swing through Asia.

Easy for Kuznetsova

In the women’s final Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova crushed Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 to ensure her return to the WTA’s top five. Kuznetsova, who defeated Radwanska earlier this year en route to the French Open title, dominated the first set, breaking the 20-year-old Pole three times and running her around the court with her penetrating pinpoint groundstrokes.

In the second, the 24-year-old Russian also went up an early break and never looked back, keeping Radwanska on the run by hitting difficult angles from the baseline.

She easily served out the match, ending with a wide serve Radwanska could not handle.

Tsonga triumphs

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga put an end to Mikhail Youzhny’s dramatic run on Sunday to become the first French player to win the men’s singles title at the Japan Open tennis tournament. He knocked out compatriots Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet on his way to the final and chalked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Russian.

“I’m very happy to win here. For me, it’s good, because maybe I can play in the Masters event, so I’m really happy to win this tournament,” said Tsonga.

“(Tsonga) just started to serve very well in the third game, and he didn’t give me the chance to break him,” said Youzhny. “(I had) one chance at one-all and one break point, but he hit a second serve and played a very good forehand.