Berdych reaches Stockholm final as Baghdatis pulls out

By Philip O’Connor

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Defending champion Tomas Berdych advanced to the Stockholm Open final after his opponent Marcos Baghdatis was forced to withdraw from their semi-final due to injury trailing by a set.

“It’s not the way you want to finish the match,” the 30-year-old Berdych told Swedish TV after Baghdatis had left the court, adding that the Cypriot had told him it was a recurrence of a long-standing injury.

The Czech top seed powered through the first set in 26 minutes, his strong serving and hard accurate baseline strokes regularly wrong-footing 2009 winner Baghdatis.

Looking sluggish after his hard-fought quarter-final win over Gilles Simon on Friday, there was little to suggest that Baghdatis was capable of a comeback before he informed the umpire and his opponent that he was unable to continue.

In Sunday’s decider, Berdych will meet American Jack Sock, who had a far more satisfying end to his semi-final against second-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)