ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat defending champion Tomas Berdych for the sixth straight time, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch the World Tennis Tournament for his ninth career title.
The fourth-seeded Wawrinka, who beat the Czech in the semifinals on the way to winning last year’s Australian Open, secured crucial breaks of serve at the end of the second set and the start of the third.
Bidding for this 11th career title, the third-seeded Berdych won 92 percent of his points on first serve and saving the only break point he faced in the first set, where he broke Wawrinka’s serve once.
But the 29-year-old Wawrinka broke for a 5-3 lead and broke again and held for 2-0 at the start of the third set.
