2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship: Tomas Berdych shines in his debut in Abu Dhabi
And they’re off folks! 2011 tennis officially kicked off today as two superstars met on the courts of Abu Dhabi for an exhibition match. Six tennis pros are currently participating in a three-day exhibition tournament, the 2010
Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. The final match of the event will be held at New Year’s Day.
Starting play for the day was Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis as he took on the world number six Tomas Berdych.
Berdych was the rising star of 2010. He was the only player to have qualified for the end-of-the-year championship without any titles to his name. Berdych proved that one doesn’t need titles to make it big on the international
front. Berdych hit the spotlight early in the year when he made it to the semis of the 2010 Brisbane International before losing to eventual champion Andy Roddick. Although he suffered a second round exit at the Australian Open, Berdych again rose to fame
again in March when he made it to final of the Miami Masters. Moving past Roger Federer in the early rounds and then Robin Soderling in the semis, Berdych moved ahead to meet Roddick in the finals. Berdych continued his form all the way to the Roland Garros
where he made it to the semis before falling to Soderling. Berdych’s best 2010 performance came in June when he made it to the final of the Wimbledon Championship. Although he lost to Rafael Nadal at the event, his appearance in the final earned him the sixth
ranking and ultimately a spot in the elite eight at the season finale event.
Coming from a superb 2010, Berdych put Baghdatis’ performance in 2010 to shame. Although Baghdatis won a title at the Sydney event and even put in two final appearances at Moscow and Washington, he failed to give any commendable
performance in the Grand Slams and finished the year fourteen places below the Czech.
Meeting on the court for the third time on the court this year, the pair was level in their head-to-head score. Winning the toss, Berdych chose to serve and won the opener with a superb ace. Although Baghdatis won the next game
on service, Berdych sailed into a 4-1 lead. With a loss of two games on the next four games, Berdych managed to win the set 6-3. Baghdatis opened the second set with service winning the tenth game. Game wins, however, alternated between the two for the next
five games keeping the score tied at 3-3. Serving for the sixteenth game and breaking service in the next, Baghdatis won the next three games to win the second set 6-3. With one set win each, the match entered the decider. Coming into the decider, it seemed
that the Cypriot had found his form and was ready to give the Czech trouble. Winning games on their serves, neither player caught a break keeping the score tied till 5-5. Serving for the 29th and breaking service in the 30th, Berdych
secured a close 7-5 win in the decider.
Defeating the defiant Baghdatis, Berdych proved to fans all over that 2010 was not merely a fluke for the Czech and that he is ready to cause some ripples in the top ten. Berdych goes on to play Nadal in the semi-final on Friday.
Talking about the match, Berdych said, "It is the just the perfect start by playing matches like this one and then the next day to play the number one player in the world."
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