After Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych Faces Novak Djokovic in the Semi-Finals
There are only a few who could have predicted Roger Federer’s defeat against Czech Tomas Berdych, who won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Centre Court today. The Czech was reaching the Grand Slam quarter-finals for the third time in his career and will now confront Serbian pro Novak Djokovic for a place in the Wimbledon finals.
"Not surprised," Berdych commented after the semi-finals date was booked with Djokovic. "I'm very happy with my performance today. I was playing really well. I mean, I just took some weak moments in the second set when I lost quite badly my serve and then just give him chance to win the set. But then I think it was all good, and it was pretty nice match for me.”
The 28 year-old Swiss champion Federer is eliminated, but not for the first time when facing Berdych. The Czech has defeated the former Wimbledon champion twice before. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, he beat Federer 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(6), saving a match point on the Swiss’ serve in the tie break 6-5, ultimately winning 8-6. Berdych then reached the semi-finals with a victory over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
The 12th seed Berdych’s best performance was recent, at the 2010 French Open in Grand Slam tournament. On his way to the semi-finals, he overcame three ranked opponents in straight sets: No. 19 John Isner in the third round, 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Andy Murray in the fourth round, and No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals. He unfortunately lost in the semi-finals to Robin Söderling 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 3-6, who was defeated by Nadal in this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Berdych’s next opponent is the young Serbian Djokovic, whose play currently exceeds expectations. Djokovic recently won his quarter-final match against Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3 6-2 6-2, the unseeded player who eliminated Andy Roddick in the previous round.
The 23 year-old Djokovic won one Grand Slam singles title at the 2008 Australian Open and defeated world champion Roger Federer—an opponent he has in common with Berdych -- in the semi-finals. He also beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, earning the title of the first Serbian to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest to have reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam events. Djokovic also won the bronze medal in singles, representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games and the Tennis Masters Cup, plus five Masters Series in the same year.
This year will be Djokovic’s second semi-finals at Wimbledon. The last one occurred in 2007 when the young player was forced to retire from a match against Nadal due to a foot injury. Since then, he reported having been struggling for some months with allergies and fatigue, which had caused some of his recent defeats and match cancellations.
Djokovic commented on his recent victories as being “refreshing.” “I was struggling with the level of my performance throughout the last five, six months, he admitted. “It was a lot of ups and downs. But right now I'm playing great. It definitely makes me happy.”
When it was announced that Federer had lost to Berdych, many wondered if Djokovic would be sleeping better now that the Swiss champion would not be his next opponent. But the young Serb replied in an interview: "Berdych, he's a player who won against Roger in four sets. We cannot forget that. He's going to go for the shots. I think he has, again, not much to lose. He's going to be motivated. So there's no favourites I guess.”
Djokovic wisely intended to take seriously whoever would reach the semi-finals, but even more so, an opponent who had to defeat the former champion in order to get there.
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