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Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka capped his preparations ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne later this month with a convincing victory over Xavier Malisse in the final of the $450,000 Aircel Chennai Open. A capacity crowd cheered on the two men as they battled it out on the Stadium Court for over two hours to decide the winner of this popular ATP World Tour 250 event. The players traded the opening couple of sets before a tiring Malisse wilted in the decider and the world No. 21 took advantage to go one better over his showing last year to emerge a deserving champion. 

The start of the match saw Malisse return well and trouble Wawrinka, breaking the Swiss in the first game of the match, before consolidating with an easy hold. The games were keenly contested and Wawrinka was seeking to find a way back into the set. Malisse offered the perfect opening in the eighth game, sailing a forehand long to offer two break points. Wawrinka struck a beautiful one handed backhand down the line winner to clinch the break and level the match at 4-4.

The decisive break of the set came in the twelfth game when Malisse faltered at the net after saving a couple of set points. A powerful forehand from Wawrinka left the Belgian struggling in front, unable to control the volley. Malisse is normally a brilliant player in the forecourt, but yet another missed volley meant that Wawrinka bagged the break and the set after a prolonged battle that lasted 63 minutes.

Undeterred by the first set loss Malisse continued to play good tennis at the beginning of the second set. After an easy hold in the second game, he put Wawrinka under pressure on game point with a scorching return winner to get to deuce. He won the next two points to seal the break – a volley winner to Advantage, before the Swiss sent a forehand into the net to fall behind 1-3.

The rest of the set went with serve and even though Malisse attacked the Wawrinka second serve in the ninth game, the Swiss managed to hold serve and force the Belgian to serve out the set. Malisse closed out the set to level the match by holding to love.

In the final set though, it was all Wawrinka as the Swiss was easily the fitter of the two players. At 30-30 in the second game, Malisse sent down an ill timed double fault to offer break point and then swiped his backhand long to leave Wawrinka leading 2-0.

It was all one way traffic from there onwards as Wawrinka steam rolled past his tiring opponent for the loss of just one more game. In fact, Wawrinka lost just a single point on his serve in the entire third set. He ended the match in spectacular style, smashing a poorly executed lob past his advancing opponent to triumph 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in 2hrs and 14minutes. As he raised his arms in triumph, the entire stadium erupted in applause for the genial Swiss who endeared himself to the people here all week.

The runner-up Malisse has been without a title since Delray Beach in 2007, the same year that he won in Chennai too. The Belgian preferred to take the positives from his week in Chennai, “I played well all week so I have to be happy,” he said. “It feels really good to be back in a final after four years. I'm just happy to be healthy and to be on the court and playing well."

Wawrinka took his third tour title and the first since Casablanca last year. Wawrinka pocketed a neat $68,450 and an elegant trophy as spoils for his troubles this week in Chennai. "I'm more than happy, it was a perfect week,” said Wawrinka. “I improved my game day after day and finished with a great match. It's amazing to have the trophy today. It's a perfect start to the year. I have one week to be ready for the Australian Open and this will give me a lot of confidence for the first Grand Slam.”

The Men's doubles final was an exciting affair with the Indian Express of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi edging Robin Haase and David Martin in a deciding match tiebreak after their Dutch - American opponents had done admirably to come back after losing the opening set 6-2.

Haase and Martin won the second set in a tiebreak to force a decider and then raced ahead 4-1 in the super tiebreak. The Indian Express rallied back to level proceedings at 4-4 before both teams raised their level of play to exceptional heights. Paes and Bhupathi nicked ahead 8-5 before Haase produced a terrific running pick-up and a delightful backhand pass to bring the game back in the balance at 7-8 with two serves to follow. However, some poor decision making at vital moments in the dying moments in the breaker allowed Mahesh to come up with two winners of his own as the Indian pair stole home 10-7 much to the delight of the partisan Chennai crowd.

Final Scores

(3) S Wawrinka def. (7) X Malisse 75 46 61

(1) L Paes (IND) / M Bhuapthi (IND) def. D Martin (USA) / R Haase (NED) 62 67 [10-7]

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Masters