`Wild card` Berdych enters third final of season in Portugal Open

Johannesburg: Czech top-seed Tomas Berdych has entered the final of the Portugal Open and will compete in his third final of the season after Rotterdam and Dubai.

World number six Berdych lived up to his billing with a 6-2, 6-2 hammering of Romanian Victor Hanescu in just 72 minutes in a straightforward effort which put him into a 22nd career final and bidding for his ninth trophy. According to Sport24, the victory also gives Berdych a 2-0 lead in the series after defeating Hanescu in the Wimbledon second round six years ago, which denied the Romanian his 200th career victory on the ATP. Berdych, playing on a wild card, will next meet Argentine Carlos Berlocq , who beat Spanish qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to enter in only the third final of his career (1-1). Berdych, who is playing Portugal for the first time since 2005, when he lost in the opening round as a teenager, holds a comfortable 3-0 margin over Berlocq and has beaten the South American twice on clay, the report added.