The semifinals are complete at the 2015 ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament (ie. ATP Rotterdam 2015). Tomas Berdych, Gilles Simon, Milos Raonic, and Stanislas Wawrinka were all in action on Saturday with two players advancing to Sunday’s final.
Here are the results from Saturday with the updated heads up records:
[4] Stan Wawrinka d. [2] Milos Raonic 76(3) 76(7)
Wawrinka is now 4-0 heads up against Raonic.
[3] Tomas Berdych d. [8] G. Simon 62 61
Berdych is now 4-6 heads up against Simon.
Berdych, despite the fact that he had experienced ample trouble against Simon in the past, did not have trouble against the Frenchman on Saturday. The Czech attributed his easy victory to good play and better strategy.
“My game was good and the game plan was even better,” said the current Top Ten player. “It was a very good game. I need to keep going as there is still one more match to go. I want to go all the way.”
The final in Rotterdam represents an opportunity for Berdych to defend a title, something he has not done in his career to date. The Czech star usually has trouble closing out tournaments and he is just 10-15 in tournament finals heading into Sunday. However with the comprehensive victory over Simon, perhaps the World No. 7 is poised for a repeat title in Rotterdam, having won there just last season.
His opponent in the final, Stan Wawrinka, also won his semifinal match in straight sets. However the sets were far more competitive as Raonic extended Wawrinka to tiebreakers in each set. The former Australian Open champion made the following comments after eliminating Canada’s top player.
“In general, I’ve been playing really well,” said Switzerland’s No. 2. “I’ve been really aggressive and moving well in the rallies. I served well when I was (against) a break point. It’s only one or two points that make the difference and I played a good tie-break.”
Berdych and Wawrinka have a bit of a history against one another. Their biggest match to date took place in the semifinals of the 2014 Australian Open, a match that the Swiss player won.
Wawrinka is 10-5 against Berdych but it’s worth noting that the Czech player does appear to have a little more in his game right now than he’s had at most other points in his career. Perhaps that is best highlighted by the run in Melbourne Park, one that went through Rafael Nadal, a player who had a monstrous win streak active against the Czech prior to this year’s Australian Open.
But that said, the elephant in the room heading into the final is that Wawrinka has defeated Berdych in five straight matches, with four of those matches played on the hard court surface. Furthermore the Swiss No. 2, a player with a recent title from ATP Chennai, has defeated Berdych in eight of their last nine meetings, dating back to the 2010 clay court season.
The final in Rotterdam is scheduled to follow the doubles final, with that match scheduled for 1pm (Berdych vs. Wawrinka to follow).