[caption id="attachment_211039" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia holds the winner's trophy after beating Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the men's singles final in the China Open at the National Tennis Center in Beijing on Sun. Oct. 7. (AP/PTI)[/caption]
Beijing, Oct. 7 (IANS): Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili on Sunday pulled off a big surprise as he defeated the tournament's top-seed, Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 to earn the China Open title, his second career crown following his 2018 German Open triumph.
The 26-year-old Basilashvili needed one hour and 39 minutes to get his first win over Del Potro, ranked world No. 4, in their second career matches, reports Efe news.
As he anticipated before the encounter, Del Potro seemed to struggle physically due to the flu he has been suffering from over the last few days.
Although he created seven break points, Del Potro was not able to make the most of any of them, while he conceded his own serve twice.
On his way to his second career title, Basilashvili stood between Del Potro and his third 2018 title.
