Berdych, Raonic Book Big Serving Battle for Bangkok Title

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Berdych, Raonic Book Big Serving Battle for Bangkok Title

Erik Gudris/ Saturday, September 28, 2013

Top seed Tomas Berdych overcame Gilles Simon to reach the Thailand Open finals. He'll meet Milos Raonic who squeezed past defending champion Richard Gasquet.

Photo Source:AP

A big serving battle is on tap for Sunday's Thailand Open finals between top seed Tomas Berdych and Canada's Milos Raonic.

Berdych, who faced France's Gilles Simon in the first semifinal, hoped to break his recent losing streak against the Frenchman who held a 5-2 advantage in their head to head.

Despite Berdych holding a 5-4 lead in the opening set, it was Simon who forced a tiebreak. Simon went on to edge Berdych 7-6(6).

Berdych responded by racing through the second set 6-2 and forcing a decider. The final set proved closer with each man surrendering one break of serve. Berdych, serving for the match at 6-5, found himself down 0-40. But the Czech didn't flinch as he went on to close out the 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5 win.

Raonic Gains Revenge Over Gasquet in Semis

In a rematch of their close fourth round meeting at the US Open a few weeks ago, it was Milos Raonic who came out ahead of defending Thailand Open champion Richard Gasquet.

Gasquet who beat Raonic in five sets back in New York en route to reaching the US Open semis was aiming to defend his title this week and improve his chances for qualifying for the upcoming ATP Tour Finals in London. Gasquet saved all four break points against him in the first set and went on to take it 6-3.

Though Raonic dropped the first set, the Canadian served up 22 aces to eventually clinch the 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Raonic, who won San Jose earlier, is seeking his second title of the season. Berdych is aiming for his first of the year.

Follow Erik Gudris on Twitter @ATNtennis
(Photo Credit: AP)