Murray, Radwanska clinch China Open titles

Beijing, October 9 

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Andy Murray outgunned Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 7-6(2) in the final of the China Open on Sunday to claim his 40th career title.

Murray closed out the match in an hour and 57 minutes to draw closer in the rankings to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the battle for the year-end top spot.

The Briton is now 1555 points behind Djokovic, who could not defend his title in China because of an elbow problem, with plenty of points up for grabs at the remaining events of the season in Shanghai, Paris and the Tour finals in London.

Murray took the first set, despite winning just 30 percent of first-serve points, and looked set to serve out the second when leading 5-4 before Dimitrov fought back to force a tiebreak. 

The Scot, who did not drop a set in Beijing, earned an immediate mini-break and went on to win his fifth title of the season.

Radwanska powers past Konta to capture title

Agnieszka Radwanska collected her 20th career WTA title after a dominant 6-4 6-2 victory over Britain’s Johanna Konta in the final.

Third seed Radwanska, the 2011 champion, did not drop a set on her run to the title and closed out her win over Konta in an hour an 36 minutes. Konta, who is guaranteed a top-10 spot when the new rankings are released and is the first British woman to rise so high since Jo Durie in 1984, committed 34 unforced errors and struggled on serve. The Pole finished with just eight unforced errors and wrapped up victory with an ace.

“It’s a very special moment; third final and second title here. It was a really special week for me and it couldn’t be any better,” Radwanska said. “Every title means a lot, but especially here when you play against the best players in the world, in one of the biggest tournaments. It’s top players from the first round and I’ve been playing my best tennis all week.” 

Radwanska, who won the Connecticut Open and Shenzhen Open earlier this year, has qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Kyrgios keeps cool to win Japan Open

Tokyo: Nick Kyrgios shelved the on-court histrionics and let his tennis do the talking to win an enthralling battle against rising Belgian David Goffin 4-6 6-3 7-5 and clinch the Japan Open on Sunday.

The Australian No. 1, long criticised for his temper tantrums, was a model of composure as he overhauled the world No. 14 for the biggest title of his career and his third overall.

“It was a great week and I’ll be here again,” 21-year-old Kyrgios said. — Reuters