Sunday 15 February 2015 21:18, UK
Stan Wawrinka won the ABN AMRO title in Rotterdam after a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych in Rotterdam on Sunday.
The Swiss No 2 came out on top against last year’s winner in Holland to record a second ATP title of 2015 after previously succeeding in Chennai.
Wawrinka started the opening set sluggishly, perhaps feeling the effects of Saturday’s late-night semi-final win against Milos Raonic, but increased his tempo in the second and third to take over proceedings with a plethora of eye-catching ground strokes.
The win owed much to a pair of breaks of serve in the final set – Wawrinka benefitted from a fortuitous bobble over the net in the first game before a stunning backhand down the line gave him a 4-1 lead. He threatened a third and although Berdych survived match point, Wawrinka served out the match moments later.
Fightback
Berdych earned the first break of the match to go 4-3 ahead in the opening set before edging a couple of thrilling points.
Wawrinka badly missed a straightforward volley to miss the opportunity to break back and level the set at five games each. The Swiss player then blinked first after Berdych returned his stylish lob, ending an edgy rally by firing wide.
Wawrinka had a point to make it 5-5 but Berdych hammered three brutal serves in a row to go a set ahead.
Berdych, now coached by Dani Vallverdu, ended the opener with a 92 per cent success rate with his second serves.
Wawrinka, who seemed to yawn in the early stages of the contest, found his rhythm with a stunning drop shot to counter Berdych’s clever backhand flick at 2-2 in the second set.
Flowing through his powerful ground strokes, Wawrinka leathered a forehand down the line to go 5-3 ahead against his Czech foe, whose attention seemed to wane. He quickly served out the set.
Luck favoured the Swiss in the first game of the third set as his return shot kindly dropped over the right side of the net to register a quick break point.
His ground shots continued to do the damage – standing a few yards behind his baseline Wawrinka sent a flashy backhand firing down the line. A second similar strike gave him a second break point, but Berdych responded with his own break to make it 4-2 to Wawrinka.
Berdych made hard work of holding his serve, keeping Wawrinka from winning match point, but ultimately couldn’t stop the 2015 Chennai winner from serving out a win shortly after.
