Oct 5, 2008 - 10:13 AM
0 shoutsTOKYO (Ticker) -- Czech Tomas Berdych bounced Argentine Juan-Martin del Potro, 6-1, 6-4, to capture the $869,000 Japan Open on Sunday.
The championship was the fourth for Berdych, who had last won at Halle in 2007.
Del Potro was slowed with a stomach ailment which forced him to leave the court at one point in the match.
"Everyone could see he had some problem," Berdych said. "But he took some pills and was getting back into the match.
"It might have been different if Juan Martin was feeling better but I served well and everything came together."
Berdych got off to a rousing start, blowing through del Potro in the first set. The second set was more challenging, but Berdych held off del Potro's three attempts to break in the match and finished off his foe in 1 hour, 18 minutes for the $135,000 first prize.
Del Potro had no answer for Berdych's first serve. The Czech won 27 of 31 points on his initial serve, enabling him to control the flow of the match. Berdych also took advantage of del Potro's second serve, winning 56 percent of those points.
Berdych had booked his spot in the final with an upset of Andy Roddick in the semifinals. The American had Berdych down 5-3 in the final set but failed to close out the Czech, who rallied and took the match in a tiebreaker.
The 12th-ranked del Potro, 20, had never won on the ATP Tour before capturing four consecutive tournaments during the summer, and he followed that with an impressive quarterfinal effort at the U.S. Open.
"I took some medicine and I started playing a little bit better but it was too late," del Potro said. "I didn't have any chance today. He played great. It was his day."
