2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Tomas Berdych vs. Florian Mayer – Preview
Czech Tomas Berdych, ranked 7th in the world, will be facing world number 39 Florian Mayer of Germany in the round of 16 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Tuesday.
Berdych defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in straight sets 7-6(8), 7-5 in the third round. On the other hand, Mayer battled past world number 12, Spanish Nicolas Almagro in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the fourth round.
Berdych and Mayer have met three times before. The Czech has prevailed over Mayer on all three occasions.
In their last meeting, Berdych defeated Mayer in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 32 at the BMW Open in 2007.
The most competitive contest between these two was the second round match at the US Open in 2006, which the Czech won in four sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Berdych edged past the German 6-3, 7-5 when the pair met for the first time in the round of 64 at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
The Czech has a 18-6 win/loss record this season. The 25-year-old started the year at the Aircel Chennai Open, where he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in straight sets 4-6, 1-6 in the final. The right-handed reached
the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia 1-6, 6-7(5), 1-6. The 6 feet 5 inches tall was beaten by Wawrinka in three sets 1-6, 6-7(5), 1-6 in the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open.
In comparison, Mayer did not have a good season so far as he has won just 14 of the 22 matches he has played this year. In his first tournament of the season, the German lost to Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in straight sets
3-6, 3-6 in the quarter-finals at the Brisbane International. The right-handed was upset by Kei Nishikori of Japan in four sets 4-6, 3-6, 6-0, 3-6 in the second round of the Australian Open. In his latest tournament, the 6 feet 3 inches tall was beaten by
Kazakh Andrey Golubev in straight sets 2-6, 1-6 in the opening round.
This is Berdych’s seventh appearance at the Sony Ericsson Open. He reached the final last year, losing to Andy Roddick of USA in straight sets 5-7, 4-6. In his first maiden appearance at the Sony Ericson Open, the Czech was defeated
by Arnaud Clement of France in the opening round in 2005.
The winner of the match between Berdych and Mayer will play either world number 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain or the winner of the match between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Jo Wilfried Tsonga. Dolgopolov and Tsonga’s match was supposed to
be completed on Monday. However, it was postponed due to rain and now will be completed on Tuesday.
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