Canadian Milos Raonic beats top-seeded Tomas Berdych to win Thailand Open

BANGKOK – Canadian Milos Raonic upset top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-3 to claim his fifth title at the Thailand Open on Sunday.

The No. 11-ranked Raonic from Thornhill, Ont. put up 18 aces to beat his No. 6-ranked opponent in the final at the Impact Arena in one hour, 17 minutes.

It was Raonic’s fifth tour victory, adding to the three in San Jose from 2011-13 and Chennai in 2012.

He also improved his unbeaten record over Berdych to 2-0 after also beating the Czech player in the Cincinnati Masters last year.

Berdych had his chances in the match with a set point at 6-5 in the first but Raonic used his big serve to force a weak return before sending a forehand winner to escape.

The Canadian then relied on powerful serves to force the tie-break, which he sealed with another booming serve.

Raonic managed an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead in the second after Berdych netted two successive shots.

At 5-3, Raonic produced another ace to set up a championship point before blasting a forehand winner to take the match.

In the doubles final, third-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and John Peers of Australia beat fourth-seeded Tomasz Bednarek of Poland and Johan Brunstrom of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.