Novak Djokovic beat his Spanish opponent Rafael Nadal on Sunday in the China Open final.
Djokovic won 6-3 6-4 against Nadal, who will nonetheless move to the top of the men's rankings Monday after reaching the final.
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Novak Djokovic beat his Spanish opponent Rafael Nadal on Sunday in the China Open final. Djokovic won 6-3 6-4 against Nadal, who will nonetheless move to the top of the men's rankings Monday after reaching the final.
"I needed this," Djokovic said after the win. "I wanted to win against Nadal, who has been the best player so far in 2013. It's important for my confidence."
This is the fourth China Open win for the Serb, who commanded both sets from the beginning.
"It's been an incredible week again at the China Open and I still haven't lost a match here -- I just love the conditions, the court and the atmosphere that goes around the tournament.
"I managed to stay tough and not drop my concentration, which I think [happened] in both Montreal and at the US Open in the important moments.
"I've learned my lesson from a few very tough and close matches that I lost against Rafa on hard courts, especially the last one in the US Open final."
Nadal, who will return to the top of the rankings for the first time since July 2011, was unable to engineer a break point as his run of 21 matches unbeaten came to an end in Beijing.
"I couldn't see a way to stop him and he was too strong for me," Nadal said.
"I didn't play my best match. It was difficult to create spin on this ball and he was able to hit all the balls where he wanted.
"When that's happening against a player like Novak, you are dead -- you don't have a chance."