Title Addition for Novak Djokovic - - Emerged as Winner of Rain-delayed China Open Final by Defeating Croatia's Marin Cilic

BEIJING — Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic; adding another title to his name. The Croatian star posed a fight back in second set but Djokovic managed to go through as winner.

The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic's serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set following a 90-minute rain delay.

The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other's serve three times to force the tiebreak. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, handing Djokovic the win.

"My patience and the choice of certain shots and a little more experience than he has decided the winner today," said Djokovic, who has won all four encounters between the two, all on hard courts.

The third-ranked Djokovic's path to the title was eased by Cilic's upset of top-seeded Rafael Nadal in Saturday's semifinal. The rain delay also appeared to have been a factor, allowing Djokovic time to regroup.

"I certainly played much better after the rain delay," he said. "I kind of got my nerves together and thought of the tactics and the plan that I should play in the continuation of the match.

"I was very fresh on the court after that. What makes my success in the second set even bigger is that I managed to save the concentration, to maintain the focus and get back into the match."

Cilic said the rain delay may have had the opposite effect on him.

"First time I went out on the court I started pretty good, but when we came back the conditions were a little bit different," he said. "It was a little cooler and Novak started really good and I missed my shot to get back into the game."

Cilic struggled to find his range throughout the match and had two chances to force a third set before the tiebreaker when serving at 5-4 and 6-5. Djokovic broke him both times.

"The things that I didn't do well decided (the match)," said Cilic, whose booming serve had so flummoxed Nadal.

Djokovic was flying directly to Shanghai to compete in this week's Shanghai Masters.

"Whenever I needed to step it up and play some big shots that would decide the match, I did."