World No. 1 Novak Djokovic crushed Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-2 Sunday to win the China Open and maintain a remarkable 100 per cent record in the Beijing tournament.
Meanwhile, French Open champion Maria Sharapova was forced to battle hard to overcome Petra Kvitova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the women’s final — a victory which moves her into second place in the rankings.
Serb Djokovic was 5-0 ahead in the second set, one game from serving up an incredible “double bagel” as he tore through his Czech opponent with a brilliant serving display.
As he was staring at an embarrassing defeat, a stunned Berdych laughed as he pretended to hand his racket to a ball-girl, suggesting that she may be able to take on his opponent.
But the World No. 6 rallied briefly to take Djokovic’s serve and then take the scores to a more respectable 5-2, before the reigning champion sealed his fifth title in Beijing, an event he has won the five times he has entered.
“Beijing is definitely my lucky place, I enjoy coming here,” Djokovic said to the crowd after his stunning victory over the third seed.
Gritty performanceIn the women’s final, it was a gritty performance from current World No. 4 Sharapova, who handed Kvitova her first loss in nine games.
The fourth seed Russian appeared to have carried into the match the determination she showed in her powerful 6-0, 6-4 semifinal defeat of Serbian World No. 9 nine Ana Ivanovic.
Kvitova, the World No. 3, broke serve in the first game, but Sharapova fought back to force three break-points in the fourth, before deservedly breaking serve at the next opportunity.
With Sharapova at 5-4 ahead, Kvitova dragged two cross-court shots wide to give her opponent the set. But the Czech 24-year-old was dominant in the second set, racing to a 4-1 lead as she forced her opponent to stretch for a series of powerful baseline drives that were beyond reach.
Sharapova broke serve in the sixth game by forcing the left-handed Kvitova to miss-hit a fiercely struck drive to her right. But the 27-year-old then double-faulted to hand a 5-2 lead to Kvitova, who claimed the next game to set up the decider.
Sharapova was then at her ruthless best, taking two serves from Kvitova before a third daring attempt in the eighth game with the scores at 5-2 in her favour.
The marathon nine-minute duel saw Kvitova rescue a match point before closing out the game. But Sharapova concluded her show of force by taking all the points in her final service game to seal her fourth title of the year.
“After exchanging breaks in the first set, I was happy. I felt like I stepped it up,” Sharapova said.
“I was kind of happy that I was able to lift my game again in the third and come out with a win.”
The victory was Sharapova’s sixth over Kvitova in the eight games they have previously played, with the Russian winning the last four meetings before Sunday’s final.
The results (finals): China Open: Women: Maria Sharapova bt Petra Kvitova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Men: Novak Djokovic bt Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-2.
Japan Open: Kei Nishikori bt Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4.
