Bangkok, Thailand – Milos Raonic of Canada topped Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in straight sets Sunday for the title at the Thailand Open.
The third-seeded Raonic used his big serve to capture a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 triumph in 77 minutes for his fifth career title and second of 2013. He also won in San Jose back in February.
Raonic ripped 18 aces and won 95 percent of his first-serve points, while also fending off the only break point he faced. He improved to 5-4 lifetime in ATP finals, including 2-1 this year. His loss came against Rafael Nadal at the Montreal Masters.
"I think I'm playing great tennis, I'm serving really well, I'm doing a lot of good things," said Raonic. "If I keep that up I think I'll have opportunities and will put myself in a good position."
Berdych, this week's top seed, fell to 8-11 all-time in finals, including 0-3 this year. He lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Marseille and Novak Djokovic in Dubai in back-to-back weeks during the winter.
"He was exceptional," said Berdych about Raonic. "He was serving really well and didn't give me many chances. Basically, the match was about two points. Both of them Milos handled better and so he deserved to win."
The sixth-ranked Berdych is the lone player among the top 10 without a title in 2013. He fell to 0-2 lifetime against Raonic.
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