Nadal storms to 75th title in Beijing

Beijing : Nadal extended his win streak to 12 straight with the China Open title yesterday, defeating Nick Kyrgios 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard, who remains undefeated since returning to World No. 1 on 21 August, tightened his grip on the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Now up to 2,360 points over Roger Federer, he has put himself in prime position to cap his 2017 campaign in No. 1 fashion.

Victory in Beijing gives Nadal his 75th career crown, moving to within two titles of John McEnroe for fourth on the Open Era list. It was his second triumph in the Chinese capital, having previously defeated Guillermo Coria for the 2005 trophy.

“It is an important title for me,” said Nadal. “The last year that I had the trophy with me was in 2005... It is completely different. I don’t even remember that one. The feeling is probably better this year. 

“First thing, the tournament is bigger than in 2005. It’s a 500 event. Before it was 250. Every title later in your career is more special than when you were younger. I had very tough draw here. When I saw the draw at the beginning of the tournament, I knew that it will be very, very difficult to have good chances here. But I was lucky the first day saving the two match points. After that, I think I played one of the best events of the year, playing very solid the whole week and playing against very tough opponents.”

The Manacor native, who notched his 60th match win of the season with a semi-final victory over Grigor Dimitrov, added a sixth title this year. He previously emerged victorious at the US Open one month ago, in addition to wins at Roland Garros, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo and Madrid, as well as in Barcelona. Nadal was a force from the back of the court throughout the one-hour and 32-minute encounter. He saved 22 of 25 break points entering Sunday’s clash and would deny all four faced against the Aussie. Kyrgios would strike 20 winners, but was unable to overcome 35 unforced errors.