Djokovic beats Nadal to win China Open

BEIJING (Reuters) – World number one Novak Djokovic continued his recent dominance over Rafa Nadal when he beat the Spaniard in the final of the China Open to win the tournament for the sixth time on Sunday.

The Serbian showed no mercy against world number eight Nadal, who was hampered by a foot problem in the second set, as he cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory at the National Tennis Centre in the Chinese capital.

Djokovic has now beaten Nadal in seven of their last eight meetings, dating back to the 2013 China Open, and is on the verge of levelling their head-to-head record.

The pair have played each other 45 times with Nadal hanging on to a 23-22 advantage.

The Spaniard, who has struggled with his form and niggling injuries in the past year, took a medical timeout early in the second set when he hurt his right ankle but continued on, despite appearing to be in discomfort.

Djokovic was already well on top by then and in complete control. He broke Nadal’s opening service game and fought off two break points on his own serve in the sixth game.

He broke Nadal again and took out the first set in 41 minutes, then ran away from his ailing opponent in the second.

Djokovic has never been beaten at the China Open, winning 29 matches in a row, and six titles in total.

The 28-year-old has now 56 career titles, eight of them this year, including the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open grand slam crowns.

(Reporting by Julian Linden in Singapore, editing by Julien Pretot)