2011 BNP Paribas Open: ATP Seeds Part VII
World Number 7 Tomas Berdych
At World Number 7, Tomas Berdych is currently one of the highest-ranked players in the world. He has been seeded seventh at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where he has competed six times before. The player, who hails from the Czech
Republic, is currently coached by Tomas Krupa. He joined the Association of Tennis Professionals in the year 2002.
The right-handed Czech made an exceptional Indian Wells debut back in 2005. He was ranked World Number 48 at the time, and participated in the tournament as a main-draw entry. His first match on the hard court was against then-World
Number 124 Hicham Arazi of Morocco. Berdych defeated the player in straight sets, and moved on to his second round match against Croatian pro Mario Ancic. The Croat was ranked World Number 20 that year, and suffered a three-set upset to allow Berdych into
the round of the last 32. Here, the Czech pro was defeated by then-World Number 13 Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets.
By the next year, Berdych had improved his ranking to World Number 25. He received a bye in the first round of the 2006 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells, defeating Briton Tim Henman and former World Number 1 Lleyton Hewitt in straight
sets to reach the round of the last 16. Here, he was defeated by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets.
Berdych’s next three showings at the event left something to be desired. Despite receiving a bye in 2007, 2008 and 2009, he could not make it past the second round and was repeatedly ousted by players who were ranked much lower
than him.
However, the World Number 7 redeemed himself last year at the 2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells. Berdych was ranked World Number 25 at the time, and received a first-round bye for the fifth time in the tournament. He
met French player Florent Serra in the first round, and defeated him in three sets. This helped him to set up a third round match against then-World Number 12 Fernando Verdasco, whom he defeated with a bagel. His next match was against Serb Viktor Troicki,
who suffered a crushing straight-sets loss at the hands of Berdych. His run was ended by current World Number 1 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the event.
The Czech has posted quite satisfactory results so far this year, making it to the quarterfinals of every tournament he took part in. He also managed to reach the semi-finals at Dubai before pulling out of the match due to a quadricep
injury. He also made it to the semi-finals of the Chennai event in the first week of the season.
Tomas Berdych has performed well over the past year, a fact which can be confirmed by his ranking. He is expected to make it to the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells event again this year.
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