Radwanska beats Konta to take China Open tennis title

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska rolled to a 6-4, 6-2 win on Sunday over Britain's Johanna Konta in the China Open tennis tournament final, taking her second title at the event.

The 27-year-old Radwanska needed an hour and 35 minutes to beat Konta, whose comeback attempts fell short in both sets, reports Efe.

The World No.3 went up 5-2 in the first set before the 25-year-old Konta, the world No. 14, rallied but failed to take the set.

The Polish star jumped to a 5-1 lead in the second set and held off the British player.

Radwanska did not drop a set during her run to the title in Beijing, taking out China's Wang Qiang, Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova and Ukraine's Elina Svitolina on her way to the title at the WTA Premier event.

The Polish star also won the event in Beijing in 2011 and took the Premier event in Miami the following year.

Radwanska joins American Serena Williams, Belarus's Victoria Azarenka and Russia's Maria Sharapova as the only players to win three or more Premier events, second in importance only to the Grand Slam tournaments, in WTA Tour history.

Radwanska, the third player to win two titles in Beijing, earned 1,000 ranking points and a check for $1.11 million.

Konta, who is taking home a check for $556,440 and earned 650 points, will move into the No. 9 slot in the WTA rankings that will be released on Monday, becoming the first British woman in 32 years to break into the Top 10.

--IANS

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