Djokovic marches on
World tennis number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia continued his recent dominance over Rafael Nadal when he beat the Spaniard 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the China Open in Beijing on Sunday to win the tournament for the sixth time.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, one of the rising stars of women’s tennis, beat Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky to win the China Open on Sunday, her biggest title to date.
Muguruza won a hardfought final 7-5, 6-4 to capture her first Premier Mandatory title and climb to fourth in the world rankings.
It was just the 22-year-old’s second WTA title, after she won her first at last year’s Hobart International, and made up for the frustration of losing her two previous finals this year, at Wimbledon in July and Wuhan last week.
“For me, to be able to come and win the tournament after losing in the finals of Wuhan last week is a great achievement,” she said at the trophy presentation.
“It’s amazing, and I can’t wait to come back and defend my title next year.”
Muguruza turned 22 a few days ago and became the youngest player to win a title at this level or higher since a 21-year-old Petra Kvitova captured the WTA Finals crown in Istanbul in 2011.
Bacsinszky, twice a winner in Mexico this year, provided Muguruza with a stern test, leading 5-2 in the opening set and 2-0 in the second.
But Muguruza rallied back each time to close out the match in straight sets.
“It’s the third time I’m losing against you,” Bacsinzky told her conqueror.
“It’s tough for me, but it’s OK, I’m going to work harder now. Thank you for making me work harder.”
Bacsinszky will move into the top 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday and paid tribute to her coach, Dimitri Zavialoff, who also used to coach Switzerland’s reigning French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
“I actually want to dedicate this tournament to someone,” an emotional Bacsinszky said.
“I came from really, really far away, I almost retired two years ago, and this man over there, my coach, Dimitri, thank you for helping me every day.”
Muguruza recovered strongly from a losing position in an error-strewn first set as both players made heavy weather of winning their service games at Beijing’s National Tennis Center.
Muguruza was rocking at 2-5 down but after holding serve with a rasping backhand down the line, she broke Bacsinszky twice in a row and gobbled up her first set point when her opponent flashed a forehand wide.
The second set was a much tighter affair but Muguruza grabbed the crucial break for 5-4 and she went to match point when Bacsinszky went j ust l ong with a hopeful lob.
And Bacsinszky, the Swiss world No 17, crumbled, hitting a backhand into the net as Muguruza clasped her hands to her face and fell to the ground in an emotional celebration.