Maria Sharapova has overcome a fierce challenge from Petra Kvitova to win the China Open, her first title since she claimed victory at Roland Garros earlier this year.
It was a battling performance from the Russian world number four, who will rise to number two in the rankings following her hard-fought 6-4 2-6 6-3 win in Beijing on Sunday, Kvitova's first loss in nine games.
The fourth seed appeared to have carried into the final the determination she showed in her powerful 6-0 6-4 semi-final defeat of Serbian world number nine Ana Ivanovic.
Kvitova, the world number three, broke serve in the first game, but Sharapova fought back to force three break-points in the fourth, before deservedly breaking serve at the next opportunity.
With Sharapova at 5-4 ahead, Kvitova dragged two cross-court shots wide to give her opponent the set.
But the Czech 24-year-old was dominant in the second set, racing to a 4-1 lead as she forced her opponent to stretch for a series of powerful baseline drives that were beyond reach.
Sharapova broke serve in the sixth game by forcing the left-handed Kvitova to miss-hit a fiercely struck drive to her right.
But the 27-year-old then double-faulted to hand a 5-2 lead to Kvitova, who claimed the next game to set up the decider.
Sharapova was then at her ruthless best, taking two serves from Kvitova before a third daring attempt in the eighth game with the scores at 5-2 in her favour.
The marathon nine-minute duel saw Kvitova rescue a match point before closing out the game.
But Sharapova concluded her gritty show of force by taking all the points in her final service game to seal her fourth title of the year.
The victory was Sharapova's sixth over Kvitova in eight games, with the Russian winning the last four meetings before Sunday's final.
Sharapova's previous titles in 2014 came in Stuttgart and Madrid in the lead up to her French Open victory, her fifth Grand Slam title.
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