LONDON, November 10 2014: Stan Wawrinka was at his very best Monday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Wawrinka’s early season form — that included titles at the Aircel Chennai Open (d. Roger-Vasselin), the Australian Open (d. Nadal) and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Federer) — returned at The O2 in the opening round of Group A matches when the third seed required just 58 minutes to beat sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-1, 6-1.
It marked the fewest number of games that Wawrinka had lost versus a Top 10 opponent in 34 wins. Berdych is now 0-5 in opening round-robin matches in this career.
“I didn’t expect to win that easy,” said Wawrinka. “But I was ready to play well. I had a great week of preparation. Even if the result wasn’t there in Basel and Paris, I was feeling the ball really well on the practice court.
“When I feel good on the court, I’m ready to beat everybody. It’s never easy, but you have to fight for it.”
The Swiss gave Berdych little chance of working his way into their 15th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, losing just three of his service points in a 25-minute first set.
After two love holds in the second set, Wawrinka broke Berdych’s serve in a 14-point third game en route to his 37th match win of the season. It was his seventh Top 10 win of 2014 and the first since beating his compatriot, Roger Federer, in the Monte-Carlo final.
Wawrinka’s return to form bodes well for Switzerland. The nation takes on France in the Davis Cup final in Lille next week.
Berdych, who has now lost his past five matches against Wawrinka, committed 20 unforced errors and hit three double faults.
“Unfortunately, it was my worst match of the whole season and I kept it for the start here,” said Berdych. “Today, I didn’t really feel anything right. I can just keep fighting and try to play good tennis.”
Source: ATP
