World number four Maria Sharapova captured the China Open with a thrilling 6-4 2-6 6-3 final win over third seed Petra Kvitova in Beijing.
Sharapova, the beaten finalist in 2012, was broken in the opening game but took the first set in 49 minutes as Kvitova, 24, was guilty of 17 unforced errors.
The left-hander won four games in a row and swiftly forced a decider.
But Sharapova, 27, took the first three games of the final set and went on to win in two hours and 28 minutes.
It was Sharapova's fifth successive victory over Kvitova, who would have risen to world number two had she taken the title, following her triumph in the inaugural Wuhan Open last week.
After Kvitova fell three games behind in the third, she won the next two games. Sharapova had a match point on the Kvitova serve, but the Czech Republic player, who won her second Wimbledon title this year, held to force the Russian to serve for the match.
Unlike in her semi-final with Ana Ivanovic, when her final service game contained six deuces, Sharapova won it to love to record the 33rd title of her career.
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