Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic hits a return to Richard Gasquet of France during the men's singles final at the Shenzhen Open ATP World Tour in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 2, 2016. Tomas Berdych won 2-1 to claim the title. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
SHENZHEN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- No. 1 seed Tomas Berdych retained the ATP Shenzhen Open title with a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3 victory over No. 3 seed Richard Gasquet here on Sunday.
It was world No. 9's first title this season and his 13th in the career.
"Five weeks ago I was in hospital, now I'm sitting here with the trophy," Berdych said.
It was not an easy battle for the defending champion who just came back from appendicitis. The Frenchman was a familiar opponent to Berdych as they each won seven of the 14 previous encounters.
The Czech lost serve in the opening game, but struck back to pull level. Both players held their serves to see the first set go into the tie-break, which was won by Berdych.
The second set had been close until the Frenchman won the tie-break 7-2.
In the third set, Berdych broke through in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead. Serving for the match again in the ninth game, Berdych converted the fourth match point and nailed the victory.
"Luckily for me, everything is going well. I'm feeling good sitting here as a winner," said the 31-year-old.
"I'm just taking all of these as a bonus, that I can play and win some matches," he added.
