By Philip O’Connor
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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Tomas Berdych swept aside American Jack Sock to make it two Stockholm Open titles in a row, winning Sunday’s final 7-6(1) 6-2 in the Swedish capital.
The 23-year-old Sock had taken some impressive scalps on his way to the final, beating the second and third seeds Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, and he matched Berdych shot for shot in the first set.
World number five Berdych, whose semi-final against Marcos Baghdatis lasted just seven games before the Cypriot withdrew thorough injury, struggled with his consistency in a frustrating first set.
He mixed powerful strokes and pinpoint accuracy with wayward shots outside the lines and easy balls into the net.
In the tiebreak, however, the top-seeded Czech found his form, crushing seventh seed Sock 7-1.
With that out of the way, the 30-year-old Berdych turned the screw, breaking Sock early in the second set and coasting to victory. It was his third Stockholm title in the last four years.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; editing by Clare Lovell)