Nicolas Almagro bows out; loses to Tomas Berdych in 3rd round – Western & Southern Open 2011
Clearing his way to the 3rd round fixture of the Cincinnati Open 2011, the over confident Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro was given ejected off the courts when he got drilled in straight sets on Thursday, 18th August 2-6,
2-6 by the top ranked Czech, Tomas Berdych.
Playing at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre, the two top contenders were seemingly mismatched as Berdych ran over the Spaniard in less than 65 minutes. Although the two lie in the same line, however, the Czech has scorched every
lower ranked player previously.
Statistically both players made their way up the ranking winning most of their matches on clay court circuits. However, the Hamburg Open runner up was expected to win the match and did walk of the court finally but with only four
games in his pocket.
Historically, the two have fought each other 6 times. Berdych, leading the rivalry, has won 4 out of 6, including the Cincinnati Open 3rd rounder. Surprising as well, this was the first match the two played on hard court.
Moving on with the match, the Spaniard took the opening game serving first, 1-0. Returning with equal strength, the Czech equalled the score with a winner near the net, 1-1. Berdych finally broke the wall in game 3 and led the
set 2-1.
Extending his lead to 3-1 in the next game, the Czech blind folded the Spaniard on the fast track breaking him once again in game 7 of the set to turn the scores to 5-2. Eventually finishing off with the first set, the 25-year-old
world No.9 blistered a strong forehand from the baseline to finish off with the starting set 6-2.
The second set came with a repeated beating of the first set to the Spaniard. Playing with a strong disadvantage of the trough, the 25-year-old World No.11 was pounded in the first set as he lost a breakpoint. Berdych maximized
the lead making it 2-0 in the next.
The scores went up with a 2 games difference before the Czech made a destroyer move leaving the Spaniard devastated. Breaking the world No.11 for the 2nd time in the set, the 8th seed took a 5-2 lead and eventually
finished off in game 8 with the same score, 6-2, and took the winning seat.
Playing the Spaniard like it was a practice match for him, the Czech walked off the circuit advancing towards the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati open. Berdych will now play against the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, to battle
it out for a spot in the semis.
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