Chilean Fernando Gonzalez captured his first title of the season with a 6-1 3-6 6-1 victory over third seed Tommy Robredo of Spain in Sunday's final of the China Open.

A finalist at the Australian Open and Rome Masters earlier this year, Gonzalez went through a nightmare hardcourt season in the United States where he failed to capture a win in four tournaments, including the US Open and two Masters Series events.

However, the South American defeated three straight seeded players, including number four Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the semi-finals on Saturday, en route to his eighth career title.

"I played my best tennis in months and I played my best tennis this week in the final," Gonzalez said.

"I was dominating from the first ball."

Second seed Gonzalez broke Robredo five times and dropped his serve just once on the way to snapping a two-match losing streak to the Spaniard, improving to 3-2 in the all-time series.

With the title, Gonzalez resuscitated his bid to claim one of the five remaining spots for the year-ending Tennis Masters Series event in Shanghai, climbing up to seventh in the points standings.

"It's going to be a tight race but now I am number seven and I think I will have a really good chance," said Gonzalez, who last appeared in the event in 2005.

"I will try my best but there are still a few tournaments left. I really enjoy this country and I hope to come back."

Only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have booked themselves a place in the event.

Robredo, who is coming off a disappointing third-round loss at the US Open, was seeking his second title of the year. He won on Polish claycourts in July.