By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, February 12, 2015

 

Defending champion Tomas Berdych defeated Andreas Seppi, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, to advance to the Rotterdam quarterfinals.

Photo credit: corleve

Tomas Berdych ended a 16-month title drought when he won the 2014 Rotterdam crown. Berdych played like a man intent on extending his Rotterdam reign today.

Berdych hit six of his 10 aces in the final set in a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Andreas Seppi at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

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It was Berdych's seventh straight win over Seppi and marked the first time since 2008 the Italian took a set from Berdych.

In an all-French second-rounder, Gilles Simon maintained his perfect record over Jeremy Chardy with a tidy 6-4, 6-3 win that spanned just 68 minutes.

The eighth-seeded Simon will face top seeded Andy Murray next. Murray beat Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil, 6-3, 7-5.

"Today I played well from the beginning till the end," said Simon. "That was a big improvement compared to my first-round match.”

No. 3 seed Berdych dominated on serve in the first and last sets. He won 10 of 15 points on serve in the opening, including winning all 10 first-serve points, and served 73 percent and won 20 of 23 points in the decider.

Berdych has won three of four meetings with quarterfinal opponent Gael Monfils, including both of their prior hard-court wins.

The seventh-ranked Czech is bidding to become the fifth man to successfully defend Rotterdam. Robin Soderling, who won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, is the last man to successfully defend the crown.

Nicolas Escude, Stefan Edberg and Arthur Ashe are the other men to repeat in Rotterdam.