Marcos Baghdatis celebrates with his trophy after winning the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006. Baghdatis claimed the first title of his fast-rising career after a 6-4, 6-0 thrashing of Croatian Mario Ancic in the final. Sept. 18 - Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus won his first career ATP title, defeating Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-0 Sunday in the China Open.
Baghdatis won the last eight games to finish off Ancic in 72 minutes.
"It's my first title, it's a great moment and I'm really happy about that," Baghdatis said. "I didn't let him play. I made a lot of returns and put pressure on him. It was one of my best matches."
It was Baghdatis' third career final and the first since the Australian Open. He beat the Croatian for the first time in four matchups.
"Marcos is an unbelievable player," Ancic said. "In the second set, he stepped up."
Ancic excelled in his first tournament following a two-month layoff because of a knee injury. The China Open was his fourth final this season.
The women's China Open begins Monday, and Amelie Mauresmo is the top seed. Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded second, Nadia Petrova is third and Nicole Vaidisova is fourth.