Novak Djokovic captured his third ATP title of the year at the China Open yesterday, outlasting giant-killer Marin Cilic of Croatia, while Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed to the women’s title.
The Serbian second seed capitalized on a 90-minute rain delay at 2-2 in the first set, returning to center court at the Beijing Olympic tennis venue with renewed focus to win the blistering baseline battle with Cilic, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
The big-hitting Cilic — who beat fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko and top seed Rafael Nadal en route to the final — pummeled Djokovic with a barrage of huge backcourt shots but the Serb successfully mixed up the pace to throw him off.
After holding serve to go up 3-2 in the first, Djokovic broke Cilic straight away and then a second time to take the set, with the 21-year-old Croatian the victim of two unlucky net cords in the final game.
In the second, Cilic — a wild card entry — and the 22-year-old Serb traded breaks three times to force a tiebreak, with the Croatian failing to serve out the set twice.
Djokovic took control mid-tiebreak, winning a rally after Cilic slipped and fell to go up 4-2. The Serb closed it out on his second match point when the Croatian sent an inside-out forehand sailing wide.
Djokovic, by reaching the final, was assured of taking over the world No. 3 ranking next Monday, surpassing injured Scot Andy Murray.
Kuznetsova, the reigning French Open champion and sixth seed in Beijing, used her powerful ground strokes and extra experience to run Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska around the court, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Also yesterday, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the men’s doubles final, defeating Andy Roddick and Mark Knowles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Shu-wei and China’s Peng Shuai won the women’s doubles on Saturday.
It was the third WTA doubles crown the duo has won this year and the most prestigious yet of Hsieh’s professional career.
Hsieh said she had Peng to thank for the victory, because throughout the tournament, she felt that she herself had been playing “so bad that it was impossible to get any worse.”
She said she did miserably in the singles qualifiers, but that with Peng’s encouragement and help in the doubles tournament, and the instruction of Peng’s coach Ma Weikai, the duo managed to bag the championship.
In addition to the 1,000 points the win adds to Hsieh’s WTA rank, she and Peng also share the US$260,000 prize. Hsieh, who has played intermittently this year, has made a total of US$250,000 in the year up to the China Open.
“My dad said he wants to build a tennis center, but that goal’s too high,” Hsieh said. “I just want to build a little house in the countryside where the whole family can live together.”
Hsieh and Peng have entered 11 tournaments this year, winning in Sydney, Rome and now in Beijing.
They also made it to the semi-finals at the French Open and are ranked the the fifth-best women’s doubles team this year.
■JAPAN OPEN
REUTERS, TOKYO
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outgunned Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-3 to win the Japan Open with a dazzling mix of guile and brute force yesterday.
The world No. 7 and tournament second seed took 69 minutes to blow Youzhny off the court and capture his third title of the year and fifth of his career.
A first title since winning in Marseille in February moved Tsonga closer to securing a place in the season-ending World Tour Finals in London, exclusive to the world’s top eight.
Victory at the Tokyo hardcourt event was worth US$300,000 to Tsonga, who now has a 5-1 record in ATP Tour finals.
Youzhny offered no excuses after losing his 10th career final.
“I can’t say I played badly but he was too good,” the Russian said.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
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