Berdych Beats Cilic To Win China Open

BEIJING: Third seed Tomas Berdych ended his long title drought with a clinical 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Croatian Marin Cilic on a smoggy final day at the China Open tennis on Sunday.

Czech Berdych, who last won a title in Munich in May 2009, staged a second-set revival against the 25th-ranked Croatian and blazed through the decider.

Cilic, facing his first seeded player in this year's competition, set the tempo by breaking Berdych's serve in the second game.

Berdych's errors played a part in the first set which Cilic, who also lost the final two years ago, finished off with an ace.

World number 10 Berdych, playing in his first final since his 2010 Wimbledon centre court loss to Rafael Nadal, fought back, and took the match to a third set.

Both players dripped sweat in the unseasonably humid Beijing autumn weather and the problems were compounded by a pall of smog enveloping the National Tennis Centre.

The air quality monitor at the United States Embassy in Beijing recorded "hazardous" levels throughout the final day of competition.

German Andrea Petkovic was playing Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final later on Saturday.