Novak Djokovic of Serbia during his match against Croatian Marin Cilic at the China Open final in Beijing yesterday.SD-Agencies

SECOND seed Novak Djokovic beat error-prone Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6 in a rain-interrupted final to win his third title of the season at the China Open in Beijing yesterday.

The 22-year-old Serbian, who will move up to No. 3 in the world later this month, kept his 100 percent career record against the world No. 15 intact in a contest long on rallies but short on quality.

Djokovic kissed the ground and threw his shirt into the crowd after his victory at the venue where he won Olympic bronze at the Beijing Games last year.

Cilic had been inspired during his two-set demolition of world No. 2 Rafa Nadal in the semifinals and the more dangerous of the pair before the rain break, but struggled to pick up the pace after the 90-minute interruption.

U.S. Open semifinalist Djokovic always looked the most likely winner and secured his third victory in eight finals this year when Cilic made the last of his 25 unforced errors by going wide with a forehand.

On Saturday, Peng Shuai of China and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei won the women’s doubles title after beating Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.(SD-Agencies)