Shenzhen Open 2015 Final: Tomas Berdych vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Score, Stats
Tomas Berdych beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets at the 2015 Shenzhen Open final to win his first title of the year.
The world No. 5 overcame his opponent 6-3, 7-6(7) as the pair competed in a Monday final after rain caused huge delays to the tournament.
Adverse weather once again affected the play, but it was a deserved win for Berdych, who took full advantage of his opponent's sloppy serving. According to the tournament's official website, Garcia-Lopez was accurate with just 43 per cent of his first serves, and Berdych made him pay by winning 23 of the 45 points on the Spaniard's second delivery.
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Here are the key stats from the final, courtesy of the Shenzhen Open's website:
| Aces | 13 | 3 |
| Double-Faults | 4 | 9 |
| First Service | 55% | 43% |
| First Service Won | 30/38 (78%) | 24/34 (70%) |
| Second Service Won | 17/31 (54%) | 22/45 (49%) |
| First Return Points Won | 10/34 (29%) | 8/38 (21%) |
| Second Return Points Won | 23/45 (51%) | 14/31 (45%) |
| Break Points Won | 2/6 (33%) | 1/1 (100%) |
| Total Service Points | 47/69 (68%) | 46/79 (58%) |
| Total Return Points | 33/79 (41%) | 22/69 (31%) |
| Total Points | 80/148 (54%) | 68/148 (45%) |
The first set followed serve in the opening games, until a double fault by Garcia-Lopez—one of seven he made in a loose opening set—handed Berdych an early break.
Berdych comfortably held the following game to take a commanding 4-1 lead and almost broke again, but Garcia-Lopez valiantly saved four break points to hold serve as the Czech began to turn the screw.
From there, Berdych closed it out with relative ease, though the players were forced off the court due to the weather yet again, per TennisTV:
Garcia-Lopez hinted at a comeback as he broke Berdych on the way to taking a 3-0 lead in the second, but as tennis writer Gaspar Lanca notes, the Czech vitally broke back to stop the Spaniard's momentum:
Berdych held again to pull level at 3-3, and a series of fairly comfortable holds took the pair to 5-5. Garcia-Lopez scraped to 6-5 after being taken to deuce on his serve, but the determined Berdych quickly forced a tiebreaker.
A rare double-fault from Berdych and an unforced error handed the Spaniard a set point and a lifeline back into the match, but he was unable to capitalise as the Czech fought back. Lanca noted the contrast between the two points:
Garcia-Lopez was able to save a match point in a tense finish, but Berdych held his nerve to see out the win.
After multiple semi-final and final appearances this year, the Czech has finally ended the wait for his 11th ATP title, and the return to winning ways should see him continue to be a threat to the top-ranked players.
For Garcia-Lopez, he was unable to add to his two ATP titles for the season, having won the Zagreb Indoors and the Romanian Open earlier in the year.
The 32-year-old is showing little sign of slowing down with age, having reached six finals in the last three seasons. So despite Monday's disappointment, his impressive run could well continue, but he will need to seriously improve his serving to do so.
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