Novak Djokovic claimed his third ATP tour title of the year with a 6-2 7-6 (7/4) victory over giantkiller Marian Cilic at the China Open.

Djokovic had ensured he would replace the injured Andy Murray as the world number three by reaching the final in Beijing and celebrated in style by clinching a rain-delayed match.

Cilic had beaten Nikolay Davydenko and top seed Rafael Nadal on his way to the final, but failed to take his opportunities as he twice failed to serve out the second set before conceding the match in a tie-breaker.

Rain forced the players off for 90 minutes with the scores tied at 2-2 and when they returned Djokovic broke his Croatian rival en route to closing out the opening set.

The second set was a arm-wrestle of a contest with the pair slugging it out from the baseline.

That suited big-hitting Cilic who broke early to go 2-0 ahead only to let Djokovic break back immediately.

The Croatian set up his first chance to serve out the second set when he broke to go 5-4 ahead, but failed to make the chance count.

And when Cilic was again unable to close out the set on serve at 6-5, Djokovic made him pay to take the match 7-4 in the tie-break.