Beijing: Tomas Berdych fought back to defeat Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and win the men's China Open title on Sunday, while Agnieszka Radwanska beat Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 to claim her second title in as many weeks.
The victory lifts Berdych past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to No. 7 in the world standings and gives the Czech valuable points toward the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
It was the third-seeded Berdych's first finals appearance of the season after losing in six semifinals, and his first title since Munich in 2009.
"To bring this title really means a lot to me. After 29 months, it's been quite a long time, so I'm happy that I could break this up," said Berdych, whose best career performance came in the 2010 Wimbledon final that he lost to Rafael Nadal.
Cilic served out the first set emphatically with an ace, but Berdych raced to a 3-0 lead in the second. While Cilic rallied to keep it close, Berdych broke him at 5-4 to win the set and turned the match for good in the third game of the third set.
"I had a pretty good start to the second set. I made a break and at that moment I started to feel, that's the chance, I can do it well," Berdych said.
Cilic of Croatia seemed firmly in command in the first set, making few mistakes and serving strongly. Berdych doggedly held on, however, eventually wearing him down and taking all four of the final games.
"I'm feeling a little disappointed by the loss today," said Cilic, who missed out on a crucial chance to break Berdych at the end of the second set.
"I didn't give up. A few points decided the second set... then the third set went the way it did," he said.
Despite the loss, Cilic said he would be back in Beijing for the 2012 edition.
"The tournament suits me great and I always play very good here," he said.
In the women's final, 11th-seeded Radwanska recovered after failing to win a single game in the second set in a match lasting more than two-and-a-half hours.
"I tried to focus on my game, playing a bit more aggressively," the Polish player said.
The two broke each other's serves repeatedly over lengthy rallies before Radwanska finally pulled ahead 5-4 in the decider and served out for the win after the ninth-seeded Petkovic saved the first match point.
"We played unbelievable today. I (was) really just better by a couple of points. I think it was the best final I've played," Radwanska said.
Radwanska took her third title of the year just days after winning the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on October 1.
Radwanska, who lost the 2009 final in Beijing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, has now won all five of her meetings with the German Petkovic.
"We always play very long rallies and we always play good matches. I expected a really tough match. All in all, in two or three days, when the disappointment settles a little bit, I think I'll be able to look at it as a really great match and really great entertainment for the people," Petkovic said.
"I really have to turn around this head to head one day, hopefully soon."
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