Djokovic and Kuznetsova win China Open titles

BEIJING — Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic, and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s final on Sunday.

The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic’s serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set following a 90-minute rain delay.

The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other’s serve three times to force the tiebreak. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, handing Djokovic the win.

“My patience and the choice of certain shots and a little more experience than he has decided the winner today,” said Djokovic, who has won all four encounters between the two, all on hard courts.

“Whenever I needed to step it up and play some big shots that would decide the match, I did.”

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova needed just 1 hour, 20 minutes to complete her victory, racking up six aces along the way.

“I guess I just like to play here,” she said. “I have some different luck here and definitely like the atmosphere. The support is great.”

The third-ranked Djokovic’s path to the title was eased by Cilic’s upset of top-seeded Rafael Nadal in Saturday’s semifinal. The rain delay also appeared to have been a factor, allowing Djokovic time to regroup.

“I certainly played much better after the rain delay,” he said. “I kind of got my nerves together and thought of the tactics and the plan that I should play in the continuation of the match.

“I was very fresh on the court after that. What makes my success in the second set even bigger is that I managed to save the concentration, to maintain the focus and get back into the match.”

Cilic said the rain delay may have had the opposite effect on him.

“First time I went out on the court I started pretty good, but when we came back the conditions were a little bit different,” he said. “It was a little cooler and Novak started really good and I missed my shot to get back into the game.”

Cilic struggled to find his range throughout the match and had two chances to force a third set before the tiebreaker when serving at 5-4 and 6-5. Djokovic broke him both times.

“The things that I didn’t do well decided (the match),” said Cilic, whose booming serve had so flummoxed Nadal.

Djokovic was flying directly to Shanghai to compete in this week’s Shanghai Masters.

Kuznetsova has already qualified for the season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Doha at the end of the month, and said she will spend some time in Moscow practicing before arriving in the Persian Gulf a week early to acclimatize to the conditions.

“Normally I feel really tired at the end of the season, but now I feel great,” she said.

The 20-year-old Radwanska, who won the Wimbledon and Roland Garros titles as a junior, was playing in her first singles final since June 2008.

“Svetlana’s been very good today, hitting hard every ball. I think also she had nothing to lose today,” said Radwanska, who moves into the top 10 in the rankings following a successful two weeks in Japan and China, but is still chasing qualification for Doha.

“Of course it’s better to win a tournament, but I’m still in the top 10 so it’s not that bad,” she said.