Wawrinka beats Bedene in Chennai Open final

CHENNAI, India (AP) " Stan Wawrinka's preparations for the defense of his Australian Open title appear on track as he notched a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory over Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene to win the Chennai Open on Sunday.

It was the second consecutive title victory at Chennai and third overall for the top-seeded player, who did not drop a set in the tournament.

The Swiss played fluently, managing service breaks in the sixth game of the first set and the seventh of the next, completing the win in 1 hour, 10 minutes.

"I'm looking forward to the Australian Open," the fourth-ranked Wawrinka said. "It's going to be a strange feeling to come back as the defending champion in a Grand Slam. But right now, I want to enjoy this trophy. It's not every week you win a trophy and it's really tough to win on the ATP Tour."

Wawrinka said he was happy at the way he has been playing.

"It's amazing to win again, to start the year with a trophy. I'm very happy with my level. It was a great final. He (Bedene) has been through the qualifier, beating a lot of seeds and it's been good for him too," Wawrinka said.

Bedene, the first qualifier to reach the final at the Chennai Open after knocking out three seeded players, said his hard work had paid off.

"Stan played amazing today," the 156th-ranked Bedene said. "It's been a great week. I guess hard work has paid off for me. This is now my favorite tournament for three years and I'll be back here next year."

It was the third time the two players met at the Chennai Open with Bedene winning their quarterfinal match in 2013 and Wawrinka prevailing at the same stage last year.