Swiatek beats Samsonova to claim China Open title

BEIJING - World No. 2 Iga Swiatek beat unseeded Liudmila Samsonova in a lopsided final to win the China Open women's singles title here on Sunday.

The second-seeded Pole, who had lost only one set en route to the final at the tournament, broke her Russian opponent four times, twice in each set, to wrap up the match 6-2, 6-2 in just 69 minutes.

Swiatek, who was in tears after winning the match, said the China Open title meant a lot to her.

"I feel like this tournament will give me confidence for the rest of my career. I mean, a chance to overcome and work on what you do or what you feel. You can always get better. Sometimes it's pretty easy, but we tend to make it more complicated in our heads," she said.

"I'm really happy that I just focused on hard work. It paid off - maybe not instantly, but I'm happy that after the US Open I just got back to basics and worked really hard, tennis-wise," she said.

Samsonova, who said her run to the final had left her low on energy, produced an error-strewn performance, hitting three aces, but also making six double faults and 38 unforced errors throughout the match.

Swiatek, meanwhile, hit no aces, but made no double faults and only four unforced errors.

The Pole earned her first match point with a punishing forehand, before sealing the win when Samsonova sent a drop shot into the net.

This is Swiatek's seventh and Samsonova's third final so far this season.

Samsonova said afterwards that Swiatek's experience of playing finals mattered in the tie.

"I need to give her all the credit today because I think she showed all the experience that she has. I think she just played better than me today," she said.

"She has so much experience in finals, playing such important matches, but me not. I think I need more time to be able to play my level every day," she said.