Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after winning the men’s singles final match against Rafa Nadal of Spain at the China Open Tennis Tournament in Beijing.
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World number one Novak Djokovic continued his recent dominance over Rafael Nadal when he beat the Spaniard in the final of the China Open to win the tournament for the sixth time in Beijing on Sunday. The final score was 6-3, 6-2.
Nadal won the bad-tempered Hamburg final, but Fognini stunned the Spaniard in last month’s US Open third round, becoming only the fourth player to beat him three times in the same season. “I’ve won the Australian Open five times but Beijing has been a lucky place for me”.
However, Nadal, after grinding past Fognini to set up a final against defending champion Novak Djokovic or David Ferrer, denied any lingering bad blood with the world No.28. Come the fifth game, though, the crowd began to roar as Nadal showed flashes of defensive brilliance and his signature forehand down the line. “Very, very easy I think for the umpire”.
“I played great, except that last service game when I failed to serve it out”, Djokovic told the ATP Tour website after beating Ferrer. He broke for a 2-1 lead and never allowed Nadal to get back into it, closing out his sixth title in Beijing.
The very first point of the match, with Nadal serving, produced a medium-length rally featuring great defense by Nadal, but penetrating, persistent stroking by Djokovic – until the latter pulled the trigger on a sharp cross-court backhand that Nadal, at full stretch, barely ticked with his racket.
Eighth-ranked Nadal, stopped at his beloved French Open by Djokovic this year, self-effacingly said the world number one was now a class apart despite his winning record of 23-21 in their head-to-head.
“This has definitely been my most successful tournament”, said Djokovic during the trophy ceremony.
Such a track record was a clear indication of how big a challenge Nadal faced, but, like so many others, he was unable to overcome the world’s best player. Djokovic took advantage of whatever ailed his opponent, as he produced a break and consolidated that with another hold to go up 3-1.
He will play unseeded Benoit Paire in the final after the Frenchman stunned home favorite and second seed Kei Nishikori 1-6 6-4 6-2 in the second semifinal.
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“So happy the way that I am playing again, the only thing that I want to do is keep working hard to try to start next year”.
