Wawrinka beats Ferrer to win Portugal Open

Oeiras (Portugal): Switzerland`s Stanislas Wawrinka beat Spain`s David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4 to win the Portugal Open men`s singles final here.

Second seed Wawrinka avenged February`s Copa Claro final loss to Ferrer in superb fashion by beating the top seed for the fourth time Sunday in 11 matches. Wawrinka played aggressively right from the start, dominating baseline rallies and forcing Ferrer well behind the baseline. Ferrer struggled to counter Wawrinka`s heavily top-spun ground strokes, particularly on the backhand and lost the first five games. Wawrinka was overpowering Ferrer with some scintillating forehand winners. Ferrer could only shake his head in disbelief and hope for a reversal in fortunes. Wawrinka clinched the set in 30 minutes. Ferrer battled hard in the second set but in the long baseline rallies Wawrinka`s consistency and depth of stroke made it difficult for the World No.4 to gain a foothold in the match. Ferrer bucked at 4-4, when he was broken to 30, and Wawrinka calmly held to win his fourth ATP World Tour title. Wawrinka lost just six of his 42 service points and did not face a break point. It was his first ATP World Tour title since January 2011 when he won the Chennai Open. He is the second Swiss champion following the footsteps of his compatriot Roger Federer here and it was also his second win in seven clay-court meetings. In recording his 20th match win of 2013, Wawrinka earned 74,000 euros in prize money and 250 ATP Rankings points. Ferrer received 39,000 euros and 150 points. IANS