LONDON: Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka marked his debut in the ATP World Tour Finals by defeating Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7 (0/7), 6-3 on Monday.
Wawrinka has enjoyed the best year of his career and victory in his maiden appearance in the prestigious season-ending event at London's O2 Arena was another feather in his cap.
The 28-year-old, who hit 43 winners to 30 by Berdych, showed his class and composure after being blown away in the second set tie-break, recovering to win the opening match of the tournament in two hours and 25 minutes.
Seventh seed Wawrinka will play world number one Rafael Nadal and Spain's David Ferrer in his remaining Group A matches later this week.
After spending most of his career in the long shadow cast by his more successful compatriot Roger Federer, Wawrinka is clearly relishing his moment in the spotlight.
He will finish the campaign ranked in the world's top 10 for the first time and his hard-fought win over Berdych continued a trend that started at the Australian Open in January when he pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets before losing an epic fourth round clash.
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