French Open champion Maria Sharapova won over Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova to capture the title and claim the World No. 2 ranking at the China Open in Beijing on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Russian was broken in the very first game of the first set but immediately broke back the Czech. Sharapova had another break opportunity in the sixth game and took it then served for the set.

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Kvitova, 24, was dominant in the second set as she went up 4-1 but was broken on the sixth game to close the gap at 4-2.

Sharapova double faulted on her serve and Kvitova served out for the set to tie the match at one apiece.

The 2012 finalist Sharapova was ruthless in the third set as she quickly mounted a 5-2 lead. She then forced the third seeded Kvitova to a match point on the Czech's serve but Kvitova saved the point and closed the game at 5-3 in favor of Sharapova.

The fourth seeded Sharapova would not be thwarted of her fourth title of the year as she shut out Kvitova on her serve to claim the set and the crown 6-4 2-6 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes.

"She became the more aggressive player in the second set," Sharapova said. "I think I took a few too many steps back and let her play that way. But I was able to lift my game again in the third and come out with a win."

With the win Sharapova is now ranked World No. 2 while Kvitova, who failed to follow up on her win at last week's inaugural Wuhan Open fell to No. 4.

French Open finalist Simona Halep now holds the No. 3 spot in the WTA rankings.

The players are now off to three various WTA events in China, Japan and Austria before the year-ending WTA finals in Singapore slated to start Oct. 20.