Nadal crushes agitated Kyrgios to claim China Open
BEIJING: Rafael Nadal won his sixth title of another remarkable year by beating an agitated Nick Kyrgios at the China Open on Sunday, while unseeded Caroline Garcia stunned the new No. 1.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion Nadal saw the Australian Kyrgios hit with a penalty point as the Spanish No. 1 eased to a 6-2, 6-1 victory on the Beijing hard courts.
Nadal, for whom this was a landmark 75th ATP crown, came to the Chinese capital on the back of winning his third US Open.
The 31-year-old saved two match points in his nervy opener against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, but was never really in trouble as Kyrgios’s final hopes evaporated in acrimony.
The 22-year-old Australian was upset with a call in the first game and appeared unable to let it go after that, earning a warning and then a penalty point.
“I have lot of respect for Nick, he’s one of the players with more talent on the tour,” Nadal, considered one of the best players ever, said.
Nadal added that he hopes the temperamental Kyrgios, ranked 19 in the world, will one day fulfil his potential.
“The feeling is if he really wants to play and wants to work, he is one of the players that have more talent to achieve a lot of things in this sport,” said Nadal, who will go immediately on next to the Shanghai Masters.
Kyrgios, who was going after a fourth career title, said he had been “destroyed” by Nadal.
“I don’t know, I just got super frustrated,” he said.
“I mean, I obviously didn’t react professionally. Obviously that’s why I got a warning.
“But I mean, that didn’t really matter today. He played well, I played terrible.”
Unseeded Garcia of France won her second title in as many weeks as she stunned new world No. 1 Simona Halep in a closely fought final.
Garcia is in the form of her life and edged out the Romanian second seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to add the China Open to the Wuhan Open title she lifted last weekend.
Garcia’s feat was all the more remarkable because she was carrying a leg injury that has required frequent oncourt treatment and completed a mammoth three-set quarterfinal win well past midnight on Friday evening.
The 23-year-old, who is set to rise from number 15 to nine in the world, sank to her knees on the hard court when she finally sealed victory in the second-set tie break.
“I was like, seriously, this really happened?” Garcia said afterwards, asked what was in her mind when she slumped to her knees.
“It was such an amazing two weeks, it went so fast, I have the feeling I started these tournaments yesterday or two days ago.