CAMELOT FANTASIES

THAILAND OPEN 2013 

Raonic Downs Berdych To Claim Bangkok Crown

Bangkok, Thailand


by ATP Staff
  |
29.09.2013
 
Raonic© Thailand OpenRaonic improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Berdych to 2-0

Canada's Milos Raonic stepped up his bid to qualify for November's Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by toppling top seed Tomas Berdych to claim the Thailand Open title in Bangkok on Sunday.

The third-seeded Raonic defeated Berdych 7-6(4), 6-3, prevailing in one hour and 17 minutes. The right-hander fired 18 aces to his opponent's four, saved the only break point he faced and won 95 per cent of first serve points.

"I think I struggled a lot more than him at the beginning, he was finding his rhythm better," said the World No. 11. "In the tie-break, it just came down to one return and playing pretty sold after that... I started being more aggressive."

He is now just 180 points behind tenth-placed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Emirates ATP Race to London. Both Raonic and Tsonga are competing in Tokyo next week.

"It would mean a lot, it was a goal," Raonic said, referring to his hopes of qualifying. "After [the] clay and grass [seasons], it seemed very distant... I've put a lot of good results together."

Raonic improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Berdych to 2-0 and captured his second title of the season following a third straight win in San Jose (d. Haas). He improved his record in ATP World Tour finals to 5-4 and lifted his career record against Top 10 opponents to 12-20.