Wawrinka fills trophy gap with Rotterdam indoor title

Stan Wawrinka filled in a last gap in his career trophy collection on Sunday, beating holder Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to claim his first indoor title in the Rotterdam World Tennis event.
The 29-year-old can now boast a matched set of honours -- 250 (six of them) and 500 series ATP titles, the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 from last spring, his 2014 Australian Open crown, a 2008 Beijing Olympic doubles gold medal with Roger Federer plus Switzerland's first Davis Cup title won last November over France.
"I'm very happy in winning my first 500 title, especially indoors. It's always amazing to win trophies, it's the best feeling," said Wawrinka.
"It's been an amazing week, I improved in every match, It was a great final. Tomas played well, I'm happy I was able to find a solution to turn the match for me and win the title.
"My game was really there today, I put pressure on him at the end. I'm really happy with how I played."
Number eight Wawrinka is hopeful that with smart scheduling and diligence, he can keep on creating more personal history on court.
"I've started the season really well (a third Chennai trophy plus a Melbourne semi-final). The important thing for this year is to focus on the day-by day. I need to keep working and try to improve.
"When I do that, I know the results will come. Hopefully I can play well all the year, not have any big ups and downs."
- Nine career titles
Wawrinka now owns nine career titles. He came good for his latest trophy after last playing Rotterdam a decade ago.
Third seed Berdych had been looking for a second straight title at the Ahoy Stadium and was bidding to defend a title for the first time in his career.
"I'm disappointed with how it finished today, but there can only be one winner," said the Czech.
"I had chances early in the second set but some small errors probably cost me the match.
"I can still see some positive things: the last time I played him (London, World Tour Finals, losing 6-1, 6-1) it was completely different, I could not deal with him.
"Today I was in control a lot. I just need to work harder and keep doing what I'm doing now."
Wawrinka, who heads to Marseille next week as second seed, finished on just under two hours with three aces and three breaks of serve.
The Swiss has now won his last six matches over Berdych and improved to 11-5 in their series.
Wawrinka lost the 40-minute first set as he was broken in the seventh game to trail 3-4 from a forehand error.
The fourth seed saved a set point before Berdych grabbed the early lead, with the Czech losing just one point on first serve.
Wawrinka rallied in the second, breaking for 5-3 and serving the match square a game later with a winner on second set point.
The Swiss kept his momentum to start the third with a break but was pegged back while leading 4-1 as he lost serve.
Berdych saved a match point three games later before Wawrinka closed out the win a game later.
Source: AFP