Sharapova, Djokovic win China Open titles

World number one Novak Djokovic destroyed Tomas Berdych in a lop-sided contest to win his fifth China Open crown while Maria Sharapova overcame Petra Kvitova in the women’s final to move up to number two in the world rankings.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova broke her opponent in the very first game but Sharapova showed greater intensity towards the end to prevail 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes.

French Open champion Sharapova broke her Czech opponent twice to claim the first set, but Kvitova unleashed 15 winners in the second to force a decider.

Sharapova, having dropped her first set in the tournament, raised her game in the third, racing to a 3-0 lead but could not capitalise on her first match point at 5-2 with an inside out forehand into the net.

She eventually served out the match and raised her hands in celebration after Kvitova buried a return into the net.

later, top-seed Djokovic took 67 minutes to seal a 6-0, 6-2 win against Berdych, who raised his arms in celebration when he won a game to avoid the ignominy of a double bagel with the Serb serving for the match at 5-0 in the second set.

Berdych managed to win back-to-back games, but it was just a matter of time before Djokovic sealed an easy win to continue his love affair with the Beijing tournament where he now has a 24-0 record.

“This was probably the best performance in a final I ever had,” a beaming Djokovic said after the masterclass. “Everything I tried worked, it was incredible.”