2011 Kooyong AAMI Classic: Tomas Berdych to play Mikhail Youzhny in the playoffs’ first round
Coming from the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open, Czech tennis star Tomas Berdych continues his debut appearance at the 2011 Kooyong AAMI Classic. An invitation only event, the tournament consists of eight players seeded according to their world rankings, playing
only singles matches. The event is held annually at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne.
A rising star of 2010, Berdych became the first Czech in a long time to finish the season in the Top 10. Last year, ranked 6th in the world, Berdych ensured his qualification in the elite eight-man field at the season finale event in London, becoming
the only player at the event without a title win in the season. Although Berdych failed to win any titles, he did put in final appearances at the Wimbledon and Miami Masters.
Berdych is one of the six players who kicked off 2011 in 2010 playing at the first exhibition event of the year, the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship. Moving past Marcos Baghdatis in the opening match, Berdych failed to make it to the finals falling
to Rafael Nadal in the semis. His official start of the 2011 ATP Tour came last week when he participated at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open as the top seed.
He moved past Frederico Gil, Ivan Dodig and Blaz Kavcic to ensure a spot for himself in the semi-finals. He was however, ousted by eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
In an attempt to put in some practice before the Australian Open, Berdych accepted the invitation and made his debut appearance at the exhibition event. Being the highest ranked player in the line up, Berdych was also seeded first in the draw and pitted
against Nikolay Davydenko. Having never defeated Davydenko, save once in 2009, there was not much chance that the Czech would defeat the Russian. In a three setter that lasted almost three hours, Berdych lost 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 and wound up in the playoffs draw.
Meeting Berdych in the playoffs draw is Davydenko’s compatriot and top Russian tennis icon, Mikhail Youzhny. Ranked tenth in the world, Youzhny bagged two titles, for the year, winning them at the BMW Open in Munich and at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
He also enjoyed final runs at the World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam, the Dubai Open and the St. Petersburg Open, though he failed to clinch the title. Owing to a viral infection, he withdrew from the Kremlin Cup and failed to defend his title. He pulled
out of the BNP Paribas Masters due to a back injury and decided to retire for the rest of the year.
Youzhny returns to tennis at the Kooyong AAMI Classic since he did not participate at any of the season opening events. He opened at the event playing Aussie Lleyton Hewitt. After a hard fought battle between the two, Hewitt prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 and extended
his already huge lead in the pair's career head to head
In an almost matched head-to-head score between the two, Berdych meets Youzhny for the twelfth time. The score between the pair is 6-5 in the Russian’s favour. Their last meeting came at the quarterfinal of the 2010 Roland Garros where Berdych defeated the
Russian. With wins, having alternated between the both of them, it is very difficult to predict who the winner will be. While Berdych enjoys a small advantage in the form, with a slightly higher ranking, Youzhny enjoys the very small lead in the head-to-head.
With a rising star hidden in both the pros and much determination to excel in 2011, it can be said without a doubt that the two will put up an exciting and exhilarating battle.
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