Stockholm, Sweden (SportsNetwork.com) - Tomas Berdych captured the Stockholm Open for the second time in three years with a three-set victory over 2013 winner Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday's final.
The top-seeded Berdych rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph for his second title of 2014 and the 10th of his career. He improved to 2-3 in finals this year.
"It's the first and only tournament I've won twice," said the 2012 champion Berdych. "The hospitality and care here is very nice. That's why I like to come back. I feel at home here."
Berdych also won in Rotterdam back in February, beating Sunday's Moscow winner Marin Cilic in the final, and lost in title matches to Roger Federer in Dubai and Carlos Berlocq in Portugal before falling to Novak Djokovic in Beijing earlier this month.
The 29-year-old Czech, now 10-14 in title matches, is still vying for a spot in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals for a fifth straight year. He is currently seventh with only three berths still available in the exclusive eight-man field.
Dimitrov, last year's Stockholm winner, fell to 4-2 lifetime in finals. He is 3-1 this year, previously winning in Acapulco, Bucharest and at the Queen's Club before Wimbledon.
"It's never easy to lose a final, but he was just better out there today," said Dimitrov about Berdych. "He had bigger momentum in the second and third (sets). That made the biggest difference."
Berdych, who picked up a first prize of $120,000, improved to 2-3 lifetime against Dimitrov. Three of the matchups came this year with Berdych winning in Madrid and Dimitrov prevailing in Rome.
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