Novak Djokovic thrashes Tomas Berdych to win fifth China Open title

New Delhi: World number one Novak Djokovic claimed his fifth China Open title by thrashing Tomas Berdych in a one-sided contest on Sunday. The Serbian took just 66 minutes to seal a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win against the big Czech in Beijing.

For the seven Grand Slam singles title winner, it was the 24th consecutive China Open match, and has never lost in Beijing. World number 6, Berdych had been broken only once in this year's event but soon lost his first service game to Djokovic with the first set lasting 29 minutes.

Berdych, by winning back-to-back games in the second set, did avoid the ignominy of a double bagel with the Serbian player leading 6-0, 5-0. In his desperation, Berdych offered his racquet to a ball kid.

The 27-year-old Serb has not dropped a set in the tournament as he defended the title, which he won in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013. With the win, Djokovic has captured 500 Rankings points besides the prize money. He has already booked his place for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals next month, to be held at The O2 in London from 9-16 November.

The 29-year-old Berdych is also in contention for a berth in the Tour Finals. He is up to No. 7 after reaching the Beijing final and maintained his position with Milos Raonic also losing in the Tokyo final to Kei Nishikori today.

With agency inputs