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BEIJING: Jannik Sinner won the 21st title of his career by thrashing American teenager Learner Tien 6-2, 6-2 in the China Open final on Wednesday.
The Italian world number two lifted the trophy for the second time on Beijing’s hard courts, where he beat Daniil Medvedev in the final on his tournament debut in 2023.
The 24-year-old is the third man to win multiple China Open titles after Novak Djokovic with six and Rafael Nadal with two.
His only loss on Beijing’s center Diamond Court has been to great rival Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s championship match in three gripping sets.
Alcaraz was not defending his title in the Chinese capital and on Tuesday won the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Sinner broke immediately in the first set on the way to outclassing the 19-year-old Tien, who was in his first ATP final.
The world no. 52 got a rare chance to break in the second game of the second set but Sinner quickly retook control, ending a one-sided match with 10 aces over the 1h 12min final.
Tien would have been Beijing’s lowest-ranked champion in tournament history.
At 19 years and 9 months old, Tien would also have been the second-youngest American Tour champion since Andy Roddick in 2002.
As it was, he was never really in it, despite some flashes of his rich potential.
Sinner’s win in Beijing marked his third title this season, after his victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Sinner may now have a chance to snatch back the top ranking in men’s tennis before the season ends after Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters injured on Tuesday.
The Spaniard took the world number one ranking from Sinner when he defeated the Italian in the US Open final.
Sinner will be the top seed in Shanghai, which began this week.

World number two Iga Swiatek said the tennis season is too long and too intense and the smart option for her would be to cut back on her schedule for the sake of her health, even if that means skipping mandatory tournaments.
The men’s and women’s circuits have faced criticism due to their 11-month seasons, and both the tours have come under fresh scrutiny during the “Asian swing” with five matches at the China Open unable to be completed on Monday due to injuries.
Camila Osorio retired after she dropped the first set to Swiatek, while Lois Boisson, Zheng Qinwen, Lorenzo Musetti and Jakub Mensik were unable to complete their matches in Beijing.
“I think people are more fatigued,” six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek told reporters.
“Unfortunately, the Asian Swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push.
“I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in a couple years. Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory. The WTA, with these mandatory rules, they made this pretty crazy for us.”
Top players are obliged to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events under WTA rules, with the punishment for missing them ranging from rankings points penalties to fines.
“I don’t think any top player will actually be able to achieve this ... It’s impossible to squeeze it in the schedule,” said Swiatek, who has committed to playing in all the mandatory events this year.
“We have to be smart about it, not really unfortunately care about the rules and think what’s healthy for us. It’s tough.”
Reuters has contacted the WTA for comment.
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies in March, with the advocacy group describing the situation as “unsustainable.”
The WTA has said the lawsuit, which also accused the governing organizations of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare, was “baseless” and defended its record of growing the women’s game.