ATP Bangkok – Tomas Berdych vs Milos Raonic Preview

This Sunday Berdych and Raonic will face in Bangkok’s final, this will be the second meeting between the two players after last year’s Raonic victory at Cincinnati 6 – 4 2 – 6 6 – 2.

After losing this season’s finals at Dubai and Marseille, Berdych has a good chance to claim first 2013 title. The Czech plays very good tennis in Indoor, his serve and massive forehand are very difficult to deal with.

Raonic loves to play in Indoor and three of his four career titles were won in these game conditions.  The serve is so hard to break, Raonic serves consistently over 200 km/h and his forehand is getting better and better throughout his career.

Both players had difficult tests today against French players, Berdych defeated Simon 6 – 7 6 – 2 7 – 5 needing almost three hours while Raonic also needed to come back from set down against Richard Gasquet 3 – 6 7 – 5 6 – 4.

This might be a very close match and the key for this match may be the serve. Both players got today good first serve percentages, Berdych got 60% first serve in and Raonic 63%. Another important factor is the backhand, Berdych’s backhand is better than Raonic and the Czech has to force Milos to play with his weakest stroke.

Berdych is the favorite for this match with 60% chances of victory and I agree with that. I expect the Czech to claim his first season title.