Tomas Berdych followed his game plan to the letter and reached his second consecutive final at the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis event yesterday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Gilles Simon.

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The rout, which took the Czech third seed into today’s final, lasted just 56 minutes.

Berdych will meet Stan Wawrinka, who beat second seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7).

The Czech, now coached by Andy Murray cast-off Dani Vallverdu, said that he and his Venezuelan coach have been concentrating on strategy.

“We are focusing a lot more on game plans than I have done in other years,” said Berdych, who has never defended an ATP title. “We’ve only had a few weeks together, but we have been able to implement a lot of new things in my game.” 

Berdych stayed in total control as he swept to his ninth straight Rotterdam victory, losing only one point on first serve.

He kept Simon on the back foot throughout the brief contest, with the eighth seed barely recognisable as the man who upset top seed Murray 24 hours earlier.

“It’s good not to find anything wrong with your game,” said a satisfied Berdych. 

“It was a really good match, solid from the beginning.

“And it all started with the right game plan. I felt very good on court, it was all positive for me. I was able to add something to my game.

“I want to keep doing that for one more match here,” said Berdych, who ended with 14 winners and breaks on four of five chances.

Berdych, who trailed Simon 3-6 coming into the match, said: “I did many things differently today compared to our last matches, this 
result is clear proof.

 

 

“I’m happy with how I handled it, with just the right amount of patience and choosing the right shots in the right moment.

“I created the moments for myself and got the situation to my liking.”

The Czech third seed wasn’t really tested by his French opponent in a match that lasted less than an hour at the Ahoy Arena.

It was a disappointing performance from Simon who had a commanding win over Murray. 

During the match, Simon even appeared unhappy with the ball boys and even the towels made available on court.

 

 

In the first set, Simon  was out-hit by Berdych, who broke the eighth seed’s serve twice and allowed him just two return points.

The situation wasn’t any different in the second set with Berdych easing to a 3-0 lead before Simon eventually got a game back, only to drop serve once more to let Berdych see out the match.

Berdych won 22 of his 23 service points, hit 14 winners and converted four of his five break point opportunities against Simon.