TENNIS ATP Oeiras – Unseeded Carlos Berlocq probably wasn’t relishing the thought of meeting top seed Tomas Berdych in his third career final. However, after a terrible first set, he came out victorious and €77,315 better off. The Argentine defeated World No.6 Berdych 0-6 7-5 6-1 in a match that the Czech would probably rather forget. Joshua Bosco
Unseeded Carlos Berlocq probably wasn’t relishing the thought of meeting top seed Tomas Berdych in his third career final. However, after a terrible first set, he came out victorious and €77,315 better off. The Argentine defeated World No.6 Berdych 0-6 7-5 6-1 in a match that the Czech would probably rather forget.
The first set was completely one sided. Berdych won his three service games and converted 3 of the 4 break point opportunities he was given by Berlocq to close the set 6-0 in just 28 minutes. The Argentine never had either a break point or a game point on his own serve: the closest he got to winning a game was 40-40 in the first and fifth game when Berdych was serving.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the second set was going to be as quick as the first, but you couldn’t have been more wrong. Berlocq started by breaking the Czech to love to quickly build a 2-0 lead and the following three games, although tightly contested, went with serve. In the sixth game Berdych broke to level the score at 3-3 and then, after exchanging breaks once again, the players settled at 5-5. Berlocq then broke the Czech for the third time in the set and managed a hold to clinch it 7-5 in 1h 11m.
In the third set it was Berdych who never managed to hold serve: Berlocq quickly surged to a 5-0 lead – making it eight games in a row for him – before allowing Berdych to put himself on the scoreboard. The Czech then served to try to get himself back into the match, but to no avail as the Argentine clocked up his fifth consecutive break to take the match 0-6 7-5 6-1 in 2h 10m.
Berlocq, who after this win is now back in the Top 50, is the fifth Argentine player to win the Portugal Open trophy in the last ten years and it is his second career title after winning the Swedish Open in Bastad last year.
Berdych will now have to wait until Madrid, where he will meet the winner of Stepanek vs Anderson in the second round, to try once again to overtake David Ferrer in the rankings.
