David Ferrer earned his 22nd career ATP World Tour title with a straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych Saturday night in Doha. A remarkable feat, considering David had gone the distance in three tiebreak sets with Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals the night before. Without question, Berdych was easily the fresher Doha finalist, crushing opponents all week with a consistant first serve and willingness to attack the net.
Tomas reached the final after holding serve the entire week. He didn’t drop a single set. Then on Saturday night, with David Beckham looking-on from the Emir’s suite, Ferrer broke Berdych right out of the gate. He’d break serve again and take the set 6-4. At the start of the second, Ferrer did it again…but Tomas managed to steal it right back. Up 5-4, Berdych had set-point to force a third, but David wasn’t having any of it. Ferrer would win three consecutive games…and his first Doha title.
Next for both: The 2015 Australian Open.
Championship Trophy Presentation featuring David Beckham
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David Ferrer’s road to the title:
def Thiemo De Bakker 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3
def Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2
def Dustin Brown 6-2, 6-2
def Ivo Karlovic 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
def Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5
Tomas Berdych’s road to the final:
def Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-4
def Blaz Kavcic 6-1, 6-2
def Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-1
def Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3
I look forward to returning to Doha next month for the WTA’s Qatar Total Open. Until then, congratulations to David on the win, and a huge thanks to the Qatar Tennis Federation.
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