World number two and defending champion Novak Djokovic captured his second ATP title of the year at the China Open on Monday with an easy 6-2, 6-4 win over Spain's David Ferrer in a rain-delayed final.
World number two and defending champion Novak Djokovic captured his second ATP title of the year at the China Open on Monday with an easy 6-2, 6-4 win over Spain's David Ferrer in a rain-delayed final.
The top-seeded Serb, who took home a 500,000-dollar winner's cheque, qualified for the season-ending ATP championships in London thanks to his stellar week in Beijing, where he won Olympic bronze in 2008.
"This is definitely a confidence boost for me. In the last two or three months, I've been feeling much more comfortable and confident on the court, playing an aggressive game, and my serve is working for me," Djokovic said.
"Let's see if I can keep it up," added the 23-year-old, who now heads to Shanghai for the Masters event, with his first match set for Wednesday.
Djokovic led Ferrer 3-1 in the first set on Sunday when play was suspended at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre due to heavy rain, forcing the players to come back for a second day.
The Serb seemed energised by Monday's bright sunshine, picking up where he left off to quickly wrap up the first set as the speedy Ferrer made a number of ill-timed unforced errors from the backcourt.
The 28-year-old Spaniard, the eighth seed, mounted a spirited challenge in the second, breaking Djokovic to go up 3-2 and then consolidating the break.
"I kind of lost the rhythm, let him back into the match with some unforced errors," Djokovic admitted.
But the Serb then roared back, repeatedly pressuring Ferrer on his serve with long baseline rallies until he cracked, bringing the score to 4-4.
Ferrer admitted he had missed his moment, telling reporters: "When I lost that game, I lost my concentration a little bit. I couldn't come back to play well after that."
Djokovic indeed went into cruise control, holding his serve at love and punishing Ferrer with his powerful forehand in the final game. He closed out the win when Ferrer dumped a backhand into the net on the second match point.
"I had a great ending of 2009 starting off with a win here in Beijing, so I sincerely hope I can at least repeat the success that I had in 2009," Djokovic said. "Energy-wise, I'm fresh."
Ferrer is scheduled to play his first match in Shanghai on Tuesday. World number one Rafael Nadal and 16-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer are also in the draw of the Masters event.
The China Open women's final between top seed Caroline Wozniacki and second seed Vera Zvonareva will be played at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT) Monday.
It will be a grudge match for the 20-year-old Dane, who lost to the Russian in the semi-finals at the US Open a month ago.
Wozniacki will take over the world number one ranking when the WTA releases its new list later Monday on the back of her performance in Beijing, dethroning American superstar Serena Williams.
Zvonareva is projected to take the number three spot behind Williams, no matter who wins the China Open final.
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