Tomas Berdych defeats Marin Cilic to end title drought – China Open 2011
Seeded at number three in the tournament, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic finally ended his 29-month title drought in Beijing, defeating Croatia’s number one, Marin Cilic, in the final of the China Open on Sunday afternoon.
Berdych battled for two hours to wrap up the three-setter, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, to claim the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event. It was his sixth ATP championship title and the first one in more than two years’
time. Berdych’s victory over Cilic raised him to number seven in the ATP World Rankings, making him a strong contender to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Being played on the outdoor hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center, in Beijing, China, the Czech number one registered his 47th victory of the running season and the third one against Cilic in singles encounters.
The Croatian defeated Berdych in the quarter-final of Marseille, France, earlier this year but the seventh ranked outplayed him on Sunday to extend his head-to-head lead 3-1 against him.
Berdych was off to a casual start in the opener and his opponent fully capitalized on it to seize the first set. The third seed then upped his game from there onwards and raced through the following two sets to conclude his championship
victory in style.
“To win this title means really a lot to me because it's after 29 months,” said Berdych after winning the China Open. “It was quite a long time, so I'm happy that I could break this up. I think I couldn't have a better place to
win a title than here in Beijing. It just gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season and for the rest of the tournaments. So I'm really looking forward to that. I hope I can keep my level of game what I did and hopefully to win even more matches.”
Berdych’s 62 per cent precise serve earned him 37 out of 52 first serve points in the matchup, while Cilic lagged behind with 21 points to finish on the losing side. The Croat pocketed the opener to get one up early in the game
but Berdych hit back at the beginning of the following set to get his momentum. He sealed the second set with another break point conversion and then nailed two more serve breaks in the final set to root out Cilic from the competition in a convincing manner.
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