Iga Swiatek wins China Open with straight-sets victory over Liudmila Samsonova for 16th career WTA title

Iga Swiatek won the China Open final with a near-perfect 6-2, 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova on Sunday.

Swiatek’s triumph, on her first visit to China, was her 16th career title and fifth of the season. His impressive 2023 track record also includes titles at Roland Garros, Doha, Stuttgart and Warsaw.

Like her dominant loss to third seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals, Swiatek’s serve again made the difference in Sunday’s final, denying Samsonova just one break opportunity throughout the match. 69 minute match.

Both players remained on serve in a regular opening until Samsonova, 22nd, double faulted on her first break point of the match. Swiatek then held for 5-2 and broke Samsonova again to win the first set.

Swiatek maintained her momentum in the second set to take an early break for 3-1 and quickly closed out her fifth title of the year after Samsonova placed a drop shot into the net on match point.

The second seed finished the match without committing a single unforced error and his opponent praised his consistency.

“I think that’s what she does best because that’s the stress she put on other players, that she doesn’t make unforced errors,” Samsonova said.

“Every time you need to do something more. What you feel isn’t real, but she makes you feel that way. That’s what I learned today.”

Swiatek cut Aryna Sabalenka’s lead to 630 points in the race to top the world rankings at the end of the year and could overtake her at the WTA Finals in Cancun.

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