Chennai: Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka dismantled the challenge of a rampaging Aljaz Bedene with ease as the Swiss World No. 4 retained the Chennai Open title with a straight sets win in the summit clash, here on Sunday.
Bedene’s remarkable run in the tournament ended with a tame 3-6 4-6 defeat against Wawrinka, who emerged as a new force in world tennis in 2014.
However, the Slovenian is taking a bagful of cherishable memories from the event, having recorded wins over top-20 players en route to the final.
Wawrinka did not face a single break point on his serve and needed only 90 minutes to grab his third Chennai Open title, having won it last year and also in 2011.
Interestingly, the two players have played against each other only at this event. It was their third meeting. Bedene had recorded win in 2013 while Wawrinka had avenged that defeat last year.
“It’s special to start the year with a trophy. It’s going to be a a strange feeling going to Australian Open as defending champion. First I want to enjoy this trophy. Happy to do it here again,” Wawrinka said after the match.
“It’s amazing atmosphere. That’s the reason why I keep coming back. It’s a pleasure to play here, it’s seven years now,” the Swiss added.
Wawrinka had words of praise for his opponent too.
“I would like to congratulate Bedene for playing great. He beat a lot of seeds. He played amazing match yesterday (Saturday). Good luck to him for the season.”
Bedene was elated at his performance in the last 10 days, becoming the first qualifier to reach final at Chennai Open.
“It’s been a great week. Thank you everyone. I guess hard work pays off. Thank you my team, you were great. It’s my favourite tournament now and I want to come back next year,” Bedene said.
“Well done to Stan. He played amazingly today(Sunday). Looking forward to Australia,” Bedene added.
Bedene played his aggressive game from the baseline but unforced errors on crucial points put paid to his chances. He went for the lines, looking for winners, but missed those by little margins to let Wawrinka walk away with points.
The Swiss had tremendous control over his strokes and his approach shots after the serve were very calculated. He held his serves quite easily.
In the second set Bedene started to serve a lot better and also came to net after setting easy volley put aways. However, Warinka grabbed on whatever little opportunity came his way. The Swiss had a break chance in the seventh game but his cross court backhand went outside the line.
Moments later he sealed the break with a stunning forehand winner. He made it 5-3 with an easy hold and now Bedene was serving to stay in the match. The Slovenian held to live on but Wawrinka smashed a forehand winner after a good rally to close the contest in his favour. (PTI)
