The story appears on

Page A16

October 12, 2010

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Tennis

Djokovic, Wozniacki capture Beijing titles

TOP-SEEDED Novak Djokovic defeated David Ferrer of Spain 6-2, 6-4 yesterday to defend his China Open title and claim his second championship of the year ahead of this week's Shanghai Rolex Masters.

In the women's final, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki beat No. 3 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Djokovic, the world No. 2, cruised through the first set of the match that had been postponed because of rain on Sunday, but fell behind 2-4 in the second as his pace flagged slightly.

At 4-3, the eighth-ranked Ferrer battled to hold serve and defend his lead, but Djokovic was relentless, breaking him to take the set and, two games later, the match.

"I started off really well but then I lost the momentum I kind of lost the rhythm, got him back into the match with some unforced errors," said Djokovic, who converted four of six break points while being broken only once to wrap up the match in 1 hour, 24 minutes.

"It wasn't a really nice looking match from both sides. We made a lot of unforced errors, especially him. He made my life a little bit easier at the end of the second set, where, with his unforced errors, I got back into the set," the Serb said.

Djokovic, who was runner-up at last month's US Open, said he was pleased with his improved serve, which he says is largely responsible for the run of success he's experienced since Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old had somewhat more difficulty accounting for his outrageous success in Beijing, where he won the Olympic bronze medal in 2008 in addition to his back-to-back China Open titles. The playing surface - and the local cuisine - seem to suit his style of play, Djokovic said.

"There's something special about this place."

The win improves Djokovic's record against Ferrer to five wins and four losses.

"This is definitely a confidence boost for me. The last two, three months ... feeling much more comfortable and confident on the court, playing the aggressive game and service is working for me which is a great thing to have," he said. "Let's see if I can keep it up. Energy-wise I'm fresh."

Ferrer has less time to rest, meeting France's Michael Llodra in Shanghai today. He also pointed to the eighth game of the second set as having decided yesterday's match.

"I had my chance there, but didn't do it," said the 28-year-old, who entered the final after beating Ljubicic in three sets in Saturday's semifinals. "Maybe when I lost this game, I lost a little bit my concentration and couldn't come back and play regular again."

Wozniacki converted three of her four breakpoints, one more than her Russian opponent.

Zvonareva led 3-1 in the first set before losing five straight games. Wozniacki broke Zvonareva in the first game of the third set and again to take a 3-0 lead.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend