BEIJING, Oct. 6-- Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Slovakia's Filip Polasek took a surprise win in the China Open men's doubles final here Sunday, beating tournament second seeds Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Brazil's Marcelo Melo. Dodig/Polasek made a mockery of their unseeded status, taking the first set with minimum fuss after breaking Kubot/Melo at 3-2 to secure a speedy win in just over half an hour. It looked as if the second set would follow a similar pattern, after Dodig/Polasek broke Kubot/Melo in the very first game to advance into a 2-0 lead. But some solid return play helped Kubot/Melo turn the set on its head, breaking their opponents twice in succession to move 5-2 ahead. Undeterred at having let their handsome advantage slip, Dodig/Polasek saved a set point at 5-3 down to break their opponents once more and force a second set tiebreak, which they duly closed out 7-4 to take the China Open men's doubles crown. There was also a surprise in the women's doubles final, as wildcard entrants Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. claimed their latest scalp of the tournament, defeating Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-7. Both pairs began the match stronger on return than on serve, with three of the first four games resulting in service being broken. However, Kenin/Mattek-Sands notably saved four break points when serving at 3-1 up, helping the pair on their way to hold serve for the rest of the set and seal a 6-3 win. |