\nWorld number two Iga Swiatek clinched a WTA Tour-leading fifth title this year by overpowering unseeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 6-2 in the China Open final on Sunday.
\nThe win for the Polish star continues to tighten her battle with Aryna Sabalenka for the year-end top spot in the WTA Rankings.
\nSwiatek shed tears of joy after her convincing win in 69 minutes, which left the four-times Grand Slam champion 465 points behind the top-ranked Sabalenka and with a big chance to leapfrog the Belarusian at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
\nBeijing debutant Swiatek was handed the first break of the clash in the sixth game when Samsonova produced a double fault and the 22-year-old then wrapped up the opening set without committing a single unforced error.
\nSwiatek\u2019s superb serve proved to be her biggest weapon as she never faced a break point and raced ahead 4-1 in the second set before sealing the win with ease for her 16th title overall as world number 22 Samsonova made another error at the net.
\n\u201cI\u2019m very happy. For sure, it was the last thing I expected at the beginning of the tournament,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cThis match today, even though the score makes it seem like it was easy, it wasn\u2019t. It was really intense and Liudmila put pressure on me.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy that I was solid and consistent and till the end I could keep my focus. At the end I felt really grateful for the support I get from my team because the last two weeks were not easy. So I was happy.\u201d
\nFrench Open champion Swiatek also became the first player since American Serena Williams to claim five or more titles in successive years. Williams managed the feat in 2014 and 2015.
\nSwiatek also became the player with the most WTA 1000 titles before turning 23 with six, eclipsing Caroline Wozniacki\u2019s five.
\nThe 24-year-old Samsonova said she would have liked to put up more of a fight in the final but was pleased with her display through the tournament.
\n\u201cIt was an amazing week,\u201d said Samsonova, whose run to a second WTA 1000 final of the season ensured she will return to the top 20.
\n\u201cI was in Tokyo last week and not playing my best tennis, but here I showed some decent tennis and I\u2019m happy for this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World number two Iga Swiatek clinched a WTA Tour-leading fifth title this year by overpowering unseeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 6-2 in the China Open final on Sunday. The win for the Polish star continues to tighten her battle with Aryna Sabalenka for the year-end top spot in the WTA Rankings. Swiatek shed tears of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-360439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n