Djoko bags 9th trophy of season

SHANGHAI — Novak Djokovic handed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a 6-2, 6-4 beating Sunday as the world No. 1 claimed his third Shanghai Masters title to brutally strengthen his rule over men’s tennis. The one-sided victory in one hour and 18 minutes at the Qi Zhong Stadium gave Serbia’s Djokovic his ninth trophy of a season in which he also won three out of four Grand Slam finals. Djokovic’s serve was broken once but he broke the floundering Tsonga four times, collecting his 10th title in China on the back of a 17-match winning streak including 22 straight sets. Djokovic was similarly dominant over Andy Murray in the semis and has looked untouchable in both Shanghai and Beijing, where he beat Rafael Nadal to win his sixth China Open last week. “I think I’ve played the best tennis ever in these two weeks in terms of back-to-back. Honestly, that’s how I felt,” said Djokovic, who was showered with golden confetti at the victory ceremony. Top-ranked Djokovic now expands his rankings points tally to 16,785, nearly double the 8,750 of second-placed Murray, and will finish world No. 1 for the fourth time in five years. Tsonga could only shake his head in admiration at the “really impressive” Serb after hardly managing to get a foothold in what was his second final of the year. “Today there is nothing to say. He’s playing a lot better than everybody, I think. He’s really consistent,” said the Frenchman. “You have to be in your best shape to beat him anyway, and everybody knows that it’s not easy to play your best tennis every match. “Yeah, I think his level is just better than everybody for the moment.” Radwanska books WTA Finals place with Tianjin title Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska booked a spot at the end of season WTA Finals in Singapore after outclassing Montenegrin Danka Kovinic to win the Tianjin Open in China Sunday. The world No. 6 recorded a quick-fire 6-1 6-2 win over the 20-year-old, who had never before been past the quarterfinals of a WTA event. “I’m excited to play at the WTA Finals in Singapore this year,” Radwanska said after securing her 16th career title and second this year. “I have good memories from playing in Singapore. The fans there are amazing, so I can’t wait to get out there and compete against the best players in the world.” She joins Romanian Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, Russian Maria Sharapova and Czech Petra Kvitova in securing places in the eight-woman WTA Finals field which begin on Oct. 25. Jankovic outlasts Kerber Jelena Jankovic made it a Serbian win double in Asia Sunday as she fought back from a set down to beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber to take the Hong Kong Open title. The former world No. 1 triumphed 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 to claim her 15th WTA Title and second of the year. Kerber needed a win to secure a place in the eight woman end-of-season WTA Finals in Singapore next week and started brightly with an opening break as she took the set 6-3. The second proved another tight affair with three breaks of serve each before a tiebreak which Jankovic edged 7-4 after both players excelled with returns. Jankovic was buoyed by the success and found her serving rhythm in the decider as Kerber failed to force a break point and collapsed as the Serb ran out a strong winner. Pavlyuchenkova wins in Linz Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova clinched her first title of the season by defeating Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Generali Ladies Sunday. It was the eighth WTA title overall for the 29th-ranked Russian, who improved to 8-4 in career finals. The 118th-ranked Friedsam was playing in her maiden final.