Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men’s World No 1 on Monday.
The Serb continued his love affair in Beijing, improving his tournament record to 19-0 after brushing aside Nadal to halt his run of three defeats against the Spaniard. Nadal had to reach the final in the tournament to displace Djokovic from the top ranking and the issue was put to rest on Saturday when Tomas Berdych retired with a back injury in his semifinal against the Spaniard.
Meanwhile, world number one Serena Williams bagged her 10th title of the year with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Jelena Jankovic in the women’s final.
Del Potro triumphs
Top seed Juan Martin del Potro beat Canada’s Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to bag the Japan Open title and boost his chances of qualifying for the end-of-season ATP World Tour finals in London.
Bopanna-Edouard win
Rohan Bopanna ended his long wait for the second title of the season as he lifted the Japan Open doubles title with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, sailing past Jamie Murray and John Peers 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Bopanna had won his first title of the 2013 season in February when he triumphed at ATP 250 event in Marseille, France with British partner Colin Fleming.