Both the top seeds in the men’s singles event reached the semis of the ATP World Tour Finals with straight set wins in their respective clashes on Friday.
First up was the world number one Rafael Nadal who swept aside Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in two sets. The final score line was 7-6, 6-1.
In the second singles clash on the centre court, the top ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic got the better of American Andy Roddick to make his way into the semi-final round at the elite eight man field in London. The final match score was 6-2, 6-3.
Nadal, by virtue of his concluding round robin clash win will meet Andy Murray for a final berth whereas Djokovic will play Roger Federer at the year-ending tournament.
The 28-year-old Roddick started his clash versus Djokovic with an outside opportunity of making his way into the semi-finals however the right hander was never in contention and thus broke on a total of three occasions on Friday.
Nadal, on the other hand, finished Group A on top with a mark of 3-0 as he won all three of his round robin clashes this week.
“To finish the season winning all the matches in the group, three victories against top-eight players in probably the most difficult surface for me, is unbelievable now, I am very happy how I am playing,”
reflected the left-handed Rafa after posting his eight victory against the Czech in a row.
It was not a smooth sailing for the reigning US Open champion, who lost his temper momentarily and argued furiously with the officials in the opening set against Berdych on Friday.
With Rafael trailing behind at 6-5, Tomas’ backhand was called out by Carlos Bernardes, an umpire from Brazil. However the top ranked Spaniard had returned the ball in play. The Czech challenged the call, which confirmed the ball was basically in. Berdych,
as a result, was then given a point.
In the decisive set, Nadal came out more strongly however dropped a forehand winner at 5-1 but still managed to finish with twenty seven winners to his opponent’s eighteen.
The Texas resident, Andy Roddick, who had made it into the elite eight man field in London for the eighth time in a row, leaves England with a mark of 0-3 after an unexpected lacklustre performance on Friday.
Roddick who had triumphed in his past four clashes versus Novak Djokovic won a break point during the first game, just to put a backhand into the net. The American, however, failed to threaten again. A forehand into the net handed the Serbian his opening
break of the set at 2-1 and the American went on to rack up twenty two unforced errors as his year ended with a whimper.
“I have been struggling physically on and off for a while now. I am looking forward to resting for ten days and then trying to get in shape. It probably came to an end at about the right time,” reflected Roddick after his loss on Friday.
Meanwhile, in the doubles action, Max Miryni and Mahesh Bhupathi also made their way into the semi-final round after posting a two setter victory over d**k Norman and Wesley Moodie on Friday. The final match score was 6-4, 6-4.
They, as a result of this win, will next take on Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, a Polish duo for a berth in the title battle at the prestigious event in London.
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