Janko Tipsarevic knocks out Tomas Berdych to advance to last four – Rogers Cup 2011
World number 24 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia qualified for his fifth semi-final of the season as he upset seventh seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinal at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on
Friday. The Serbian took just an hour and 28 minutes to knock out his opponent in a one-sided contest.
Tipsarevic and the Czech served quite well in the most part of the first set as they comfortably held their serve in the first eight games to tie the score at 4-4. The Serbian, however, succeeded in breaking Berdych in the ninth
game and consolidated on it to win the set 6-4.
The Belgrade resident fired six aces and clinched nineteen of the 24 points on the first serve in the opening set. Tipsarevic was a bit erratic on his second serve, committing three double faults. The Serbian, however, managed
to win eight of the nineteen second service points in the first set. Tipsarevic saved all the four break points he faced on his own serve and claimed one of the two break points he received on Berdych’s serve in the opening set.
The Serbian carried the winning momentum into the second set and took the early lead, breaking Berdych in the third game and winning his next service game to go ahead 3-1. Tipsarevic maintained the lead till the end as he did not
lose his own serve and claimed the set 6-4.
The right-handed relied on his serve to win most of the points in the second set. The Serbian delivered four aces, converting an incredible twelve of the fourteen first serves and eight of the nine second serves into points. Tipsarevic
also sealed 25 percent of the first return points and won the only break point he received in the second set.
The Serbian said, after the match, "I played Tomas a couple of times before. What I know and what I noticed about his game is when he's leading, he's playing out of his mind, like really there's no stopping him. But sometimes when
he's down or when it's a tight match, he makes some mistakes which are unusual.”
Tipsarevic added, "Mardy is a really intelligent player. He's a typical example of an all around player that can defend, stay back, be passive, but then on the other hand go to the net, play serve and volley and completely mix
up the game."
The 27-year-old will face sixth seed Mardy Fish of USA in the semi-finals.
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