Andy Murray believes 2016 has been the most consistent year of his career after claiming the China Open with a straight sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
Murray bagged his fifth singles title of 2016 by beating the Bulgarian 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in Beijing.
The world number two has been hugely impressive this week as he secured a 40th singles crown of his career without dropping a set.
But he was pushed all the way by world number 20 Dimitrov and needed to show the character he has become renowned for to claim the title.
"It's been the most consistent year of my career, getting to the latter stages of most of the events I have played," Murray told Sky Sports.
"It was a great week for me. Today's match was a very high-level match. Grigor fought right to the end and made it extremely tough to finish it in two sets.
"It's been an excellent week and I'm very happy with the way that I have played the last couple of matches. I will look forward to Shanghai now."
Murray’s victory came hours after fellow Brit Johanna Konta missed out on claiming the women’s singles title.
British number one Konta described her China Open campaign as spectacular despite being beaten 6-4 6-2 in the final by Agnieszka Radwanska.
Konta couldn’t get the better of the world number three but her impressive run will see her move into the top ten for the first time on Monday – the first Brit to do so in 32 years.
The 25-year-old may have missed out on what would have been the biggest title of her career but she now finds herself in the eighth and final position for the season-ending championships in Singapore, with just two weeks remaining.
"I'm very pleased with this week, it was pretty spectacular," said Konta.
"I'm really enjoying my journey and looking forward to matches like this against players like Agnieszka.” Sportsbeat 2016