By Chris Oddo | Sunday, February 15th, 2015
Stan Wawrinka fought back from a set down to win his sixth straight decision over Tomas Berdych in the Rotterdam final.
Photo Source: ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament
Stan Wawrinka’s torrid start to 2015 continued on Sunday in Rotterdam as the ATP’s match win leader fought back from a set down to notch his sixth consecutive win over Tomas Berdych in the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament Final. Wawrinka’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory marks his 9th career title and his first at the 500-level, as well as his first indoors.
"It's my first [ATP World Tour] 500 title and winning indoors is something special for me personally,” Wawrinka said, according to ATPworldtour.com. “It's always amazing to win a trophy. It's the best feeling."
Berdych, the defending champ at Rotterdam, came in on a hot streak. The Czech had not faced a break point since the second set of his second-round match with Andreas Seppi, and he continued his fine form in the opener, saving the only break point he faced and winning 12 of 13 first-serve points to grab the early lead on Wawrinka.
But Wawrinka would start to make inroads in the second set.
Berdych saved a break point with an ace at 15-40, 3-4, but he would net a forehand on the next point to open the door for Wawrinka, who served out the set in the next game.
Perhaps flustered, and facing pressure from Wawrinka, Berdych could not reclaim his serving dominance in the third set. The floodgates, at least temporarily, were open for Wawrinka.
A lucky let cord winner led to a Wawrinka break in the first game of set three, and a sublime down-the-line backhand winner gave the Swiss a double-break lead at 4-1. Though Berdych would break immediately back, and save a championship point with an ace while serving at 3-5, Wawrinka closed the match without drama on serve.
Notes, Numbers, Tweets
Wawrinka has now won 9 of his last 10 matches against Berdych.
Wawrinka becomes the fourth Swiss ATP player to have won the Rotterdam title. He joins Heinz Gunthardt, Jakob Hlasek and Roger Federer as previous winners.
Berdych was attempting to join Arthur Ashe (’75-’76), Stefan Edberg (’87-’88), Nicolas Escude (2001-’02) and Robin Soderling (2010-’11) by successfully defending his Rotterdam title.
Wawrinka leads the ATP in match wins this season with a 14-1 record. Berdych drops to 13-3 with the loss.