2010 ATP World Tour Finals: Novak Djokovic topples Tomas Berdych in London
World number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia showed his immense potential as he took avenge of his Wimbledon semi final loss by getting the better of Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic in two sets at the 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Monday. The
score line was 6-3, 6-3.
The former champion, who captured the year finale title back in 2008 when it was staged in Shanghai, needed only eighty eight minutes to get past his Czech foe in London. Berdych has only triumphed in eight of his twenty one clashes since making his way
into his first Grand Slam title battle at Wimbledon.
“I could not ask for a better start of the event. I was looking to concentrate on my game and play the way I planned with my coach. I think I played well. You have to be really on the top of the game in order to triumph, as these contenders who are taking
part in these competitions are the best ones in the world. There is no easy match or easy opponent,” reflected the former world number two Serbian after his victory.
Heavy hitting Berdych, on the other hand, got off to the worst possible start when the professional tennis ace from Czech Republic blasted two doubles faults in the first game, which his opponent broke to 15. Tomas then prevented four break points during
the third game as Novak became the dominant force in the Group A match.
The 23-year-old Djokovic, who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 2003, won eleven of twelve points in his next three service games and stunned Berdych with his fluent volleying and crispy ground strokes.
The right handed Djokovic, who will also be the leading man from Serbia in the final of Davis Cup versus France after ten days, later caused his 6’5 opponent to commit a total of two unforced errors during the ninth game and as a result, went on to clinch
the opening set that had lasted for forty three minutes.
The 1.88 meters tall Novak was soon on the course for his 40th hard court victory of the season when the Serbian broke to 30 during the second game of the decisive set after Tomas smashed a wild forehand off-target. He maintained the break advantage and
missed only seven points on opening serve in the pair’s fifth encounter on the tour.
Seeded number three to win the title in London, Djokovic has triumphed in twenty six of his last thirty three clashes since the grass court Grand Slam tournament, which also include reaching the title battle at the year’s final major, the United States Open
in New York back in September.
Tomas, on the other hand, was the first and only tennis player from Czech Republic who successfully made it into the year finale. He will also finish in the top ten in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings as the first Czech since Jiri Novak back in
2002.
Berdych committed nineteen unforced errors and prevented just a single match point with a perfectly-timed lob, however never posed any threat to the Serbian.
The Czech, while commenting on his loss, explained, “For me, it was an average match. I did not bring anything. I had couple of chances. I had it twice, three times, like 30/0, 30/30 on his serve, and then he just took those two points. It is tough to be
coming here after a couple of months when I did not do that well. Then, of course, you struggle a little bit with confidence. You can practice as hard as you can, but winning builds confidence.”
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