Nadal wins 6th title of year in Beijing; Garcia beats Halep

Rafael Nadal beat Nick Kyrgios of Australia 6-2, 6-1 Sunday in the China Open final to win his sixth ATP title of the year, and Caroline Garcia defeated soon-to-be-No. 1 Simona Halep 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the women's event.

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a shot to Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the men's singles final match of the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Top-ranked Nadal, who was tied with Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev at five titles this season, picked up his 75th career singles trophy with the win in Beijing.

The 15th-ranked Garcia, who lost to Halep the two previous times they played, won her second consecutive WTA title. The Frenchwoman will make her top-10 debut when the new rankings come out on Monday.

Caroline Garcia of France reacts after beating Simona Halep of Romania in their women's singles championship match in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The 31-year-old Nadal's six trophies this year include a record 10th title at the French Open and a third at the U.S. Open. The last time the Spaniard won at least six titles in a year was in 2013 when he captured 10 trophies for the season.

Kyrgios started Sunday struggling with his serve and never found a confident range throughout the match. His first-serve percentage mostly languished under the 50 percent mark.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia talks to the umpire during his men's singles championship match against Rafael Nadal of Spain in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

In contrast, Nadal always looked in charge and saved all four break points he faced.

"I was playing very high intensity the whole match, changing the directions and not making many mistakes," Nadal said.

Rafael Nadal of Spain serves the ball to Nick Kyrgios of Australia during their men's singles championship match in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Kyrgios offered Nadal eight break points in the first set with Nadal taking two service breaks.

Kyrgios was angered by a line call in the first set and his complaints eventually cost him a penalty point at the start of the eighth game.

Kyrgios didn't make it onto the board in the second set until he was serving with Nadal already leading 5-0.

Rafael Nadal of Spain poses with the winner's trophy after beating Nick Kyrgios of Australia in the men's singles championship match in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

"In the semifinal I played well, obviously beating Alex (Zverev)," Kyrgios said. "It's a typical type of week for me: beat a player well, then pretty much no-show."

Garcia also won her final in straight sets.

"She played amazing tennis," Halep said of Garcia. "She deserved to win today. She was better."

Caroline Garcia of France kisses the winner's trophy while posing for photos after beating Simona Halep of Romania in their women's singles championship match in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

For Halep, the loss was particularly disappointing as she was unable to back up her guaranteed debut in the No. 1 ranking on Monday. She secured the top spot on Saturday with her semifinal victory over French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Halep's best opportunity to rebound against Garcia ended when she failed to make good on any of the nine break points she had at 3-3 in the second set.

Photographers take photos as Caroline Garcia of France poses with the winner's trophy after beating Simona Halep of Romania in their women's singles championship match in the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

"For sure it definitely turned the second set," Garcia said. "This game was definitely very important."

In the second-set tiebreaker, the unseeded Garcia jumped out to 4-1, and on a first match point at 6-3 with Halep serving, the Romanian netted a forehand. Garcia fell to her knees in celebration.

She is enjoying an 11-match winning streak, having captured her first title of the season at Wuhan last week. This is the second time she's won a career-best 11 straight matches.

"It was such an amazing two weeks," Garcia said. "It went so fast."

Garcia saved a match point in her three-set quarterfinal victory over third-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

The last time Kyrgios played a No. 1 it was also against Nadal. In that 2014 fourth-round encounter at Wimbledon, the then 144th-ranked Kyrgios emerged a four-set winner.

This was Nadal's second China Open title in four trips to the final. He won his first in his Beijing debut in 2005.

"In 2005, I never will believe that I will keep playing tennis in 2017," Nadal said.

Nadal leads Kyrgios 3-2 in career meetings, and 2-1 this season.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Garcia's behavior leading up to his bout against Devin Haney seemed so erratic that some people thought he shouldn't be allowed to fight at all.

Think of the performance they would have missed.

Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss, winning the fight by majority decision Saturday night but not the title because he was over the weight limit.

Garcia's odd actions in public and on social media throughout the buildup led to questions about how serious he was about this fight. It sure seemed as though he didn't devote enough time for training when he was more than 3 pounds above the 140-pound limit on Friday.

But the speed and power in his hands was too much for Haney, who was hurt right from the opening round and went down in the seventh, 10th and 11th.

“Come on guys, you really thought I was crazy?” Garcia screamed to the fans during his post-fight interview in the ring.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) won by scores of 115-109 and 114-110 on two of the judges' cards, while the third had it 112-112.

The Associated Press scored it 114-110 for Garcia.

The 25-year-olds from California split six fights as amateurs, but Haney had the stronger pro career, winning the undisputed lightweight title and then moving up to win the WBC belt in his first fight at 140 pounds.

Garcia couldn't take that, but he took Haney's perfect record. Haney fell to 31-1.

Haney had seemingly taken his place among the best fighters in the world, while it became easy to wonder if Garcia was overhyped. Garcia was stopped by Gervonta Davis last year in his biggest fight and expectations were he was going down again, even as he insisted he was ready to fight despite the appearance that he spent more time on the internet than in the gym.

Garcia explained that he needs his nights out and time for his other interests to help get past problems in his personal life, such as a divorce.

“I did what I thought I needed to do to feel OK,” Garcia said.

He was better than OK. He was better than one of the best fighters in the world.

He wobbled Haney with a big left hook in the opening round, and though Haney steadied himself and appeared to winning the middle rounds, Garcia’s power showed up again in the seventh.

“He caught me early when I was sleeping on it,” Haney said of the first-round hook. “He caught me by surprise.”

A straight left set up the first knockdown and Haney struggled to regain his balance the rest of the round. He went down twice more in the round, but neither was ruled a knockdown by the referee, who also took a point from Garcia in the round for hitting on the break.

No matter. There was no denying the knockdowns in the 10th and 11th, and Garcia was able to spend most of the 12th taunting the champion.

It had been unclear from the start how enthused Garcia was for the fight, which he was lobbying to be held in Las Vegas even after it had already been announced for Brooklyn.

It became a non-title bout Friday when Garcia weighed in at 143.2 pounds, 3.2 above the super lightweight limit. He didn’t seem bothered, firing off social media posts saying the extra weight would make him stronger, then drinking what appeared to be a bottle of beer on the scale during the ceremonial public weigh-in later in the afternoon.

But he looked like the fast-rising sensation of earlier in his career, the crowd chanting his name as he began to dominate the latter rounds.

Garcia said he would look to move up to 147 pounds, saying he is unable to get to the 140-pound limit.

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Devin Haney pauses after being knocked down during the seventh round of a super lightweight boxing match against Ryan Garcia ealry Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, left, punches Devin Haney during the 12th round of a super lightweight boxing bout early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, left, punches Devin Haney during the 12th round of a super lightweight boxing match Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, right, punches Devin Haney during the eighth round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Devin Haney, right, punches Ryan Garcia during the ninth round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia celebrates after winning a super lightweight boxing match against Devin Haney early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Devin Haney, right, punches Ryan Garcia during the second round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, right, punches Devin Haney during the first round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia stands over Devin Haney after knocking him down during the seventh round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)