TheCable

Novak Djokovic has described his 6-0, 6-2 win over Tomas Berdych at the China Open Sunday as his greatest ever final.

The Serb was 5-0 ahead in the second set as he tore through his Czech opponent, who knew he was staring at an embarrassing defeat, with a brilliant serving display.

Berdych laughed as he pretended to hand his racket to a ball girl, suggesting that she may be able to take on his opponent.

The score was eventually a more respectable 5-2, before the reigning champion sealed his fifth title in Beijing.

“This has been, under the circumstances, probably the best performance in all finals in my career I played. It was incredible. Incredible,” the world number one said after his stunning victory over the third seed.

“It was six Love, five Love, under an hour. Everything I tried worked. To be proud of the performance is the least I can say of what I played.”

Berdych admitted in post-match press conference he was no match for his opponent.

“I met somebody in the final who I’ve never seen before. Really, the way that he performed today was really outstanding,” he said.

“There is really not much I can add to that because, really, I was just swept out from the court. Yeah, that was it.

“I probably played maybe over, what, 600 matches in my career, and I met guys like Andre (Agassi), Roger (Federer), all those probably in their best times. But I have never, ever experienced anything like that.”

In the women’s final, it was a gritty performance from current world number four Maria Sharapova, who handed Petra Kvitova her first loss in nine games. It ended 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.