Novak Djokovic topples Tomas Berdych to reach semis – Wimbledon Championships 2013
World number one, Novak Djokovic, cruised past the seventh seed, Tomas Berdych, in straight sets at the Wimbledon Championships 2013 on Wednesday. He penned down a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-3 victory against the Czech star and reached his
fourth straight semi-final at this prestigious grass court event.
The top seed stayed on track to grab his second crown at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club after trouncing Berdych in their 16th meeting. As a result, Djokovic avenged his loss against the Czech at the Internazionali
BNL D’Italia and extended his lead in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 14-2.
The Serbian ace commented in a courtside interview after stealing the show, "Generally, it was a very close match and that's what I expected. Tomas is a very powerful player. We went toe-to-toe in the first set and one shot decided
a first set winner. That was important for me to get the set advantage. Even though I started poorly in the second, I still felt quite good on the court. [I’m] just really glad to win in three."
In the opening set both challengers displayed brilliant tennis skills. Djokovic squandered many break opportunities but managed to keep his entire serves with ease. As a result, the set went to a tie-breaker where the Serb edged
past Berdych and pulled out the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
The 26-year-old lost his track in the second set. He gifted away his opening two serves and fell at 0-3. However, Djokovic stayed focused and managed to recover in the sixth game. He got the breakthrough in the last game and clinched
the set with 6-4 score line.
Djokovic kept momentum rolling in the following set. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and leaped to a 4-1 lead. The Serb then held his remaining serves with conviction and sealed the set by winning six games to three.
After earning the limelight in two hours and 15 minutes, Djokovic clobbered a better first serve share of 61 per cent as compared to his opponent’s 53 per cent and impressively marked 42 out of 54 points on it. He spilled only
13 unforced errors and hammered 36 winners.
"Basically he didn't start the second set that well, but then it was all me," the Czech reflected about his loss in a post match presser. "I didn't start the game well [at 3-0] with the new balls. I just started with [a] double
fault. Then the whole game kept going bad."
The Serb will square off against the eighth seed, Juan Martin Del Potro, in the final four.
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