Maybe if Tomas Berdych had won, Chennai would seem like it was on par with Doha and Brisbane.  Heck, the Hopman Cup, an exhibition had more star power (with Murray and Djokovic playing) than 2 of the 3 official tournaments played this week.

But with Stan Wawrinka facing Xavier Malisse, Chennai felt something like the ugly stepsister of the finals this week.  On the one hand, number 2, Roger Federer faced former top 10 player, Nikolay Davydenko.  On the other, number 5, Robin Soderling beat number 8, Andy Roddick, in the final of Brisbane.  Although Wawrinka has been ranked as high as 10, he is now ranked 21.  The quality of play just wasn’t at the level of either Doha or Brisbane.  Of course, these are still among the elite of the world, more the capable of beating 95% of the pros on circuit, but when you’re used to seeing the best, this is a step down.

Wawrinka was last year’s finalist losing to Marin Cilic, who had won the previous year.  Last year the bridesmaid, this year the bride.  Wawrinka needed 3 sets to beat the Belgian who hadn’t reached a final since 2007 (then, Delray Beach and Chennai).

It seems once a player has success at a tournament, especially one of the lower ranked players at one of the smaller tournaments, their excitement level, their memory for the event, keeps them successful time and again.  Both Malisse and Wawrinka have done well at Chennai.  Despite this, Wawrinka had not originally planned to play Chennai despite being defending champ, and took a wildcard to get in.

Final score: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Last year, Wawrinka won Casablanca.  For a player at Wawrinka’s level, a title a year is generally considered a great year.  Consider that Soderling doesn’t often win more than 2 titles a year, but makes deep runs at nearly every tournament, and that he’s a solid number 5 in the world.  Indeed, until 2010, Soderling has never won more than a tournament a year.  With a tournament already won, Soderling is probably looking to that next step forward.

Congrats to Stanislas Wawrinka who, by the way, is working with Peter Lundgren, after being coached for years by his childhood coach.