Rafael Nadal wins a gruelling contest against Tomas Berdych to reach the semis– Australian Open 2012
World number two, Rafael Nadal, ended the resistance of the Czech, Tomas Berdych, to place a berth in the semi-final of the Australian Open tournament on Tuesday. He was trailing one set down at the end of the first set but fought
back and bagged the next three sets to win the match; final scores were 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3 and match lasted four hours and 16 minutes.
It was Nadal’s eleventh successive win against the Czech tennis ace and he comfortably leads the head-to-head scores with 12-3. Berdych was extremely competent throughout the first set and played some marvellous shots that rocked
the Spaniard but he was not good enough to beat the former world number one.
First set was extremely fascinating as both players hung on to their serves all the way. Sheer pace and quality game play was shown by Nadal, whilst his competitor displayed immense composure and control over drop shots to capitalize
on his serves. Tie-breaker round witnessed a silly mistake from the Spaniard that cost him the set but there was no way someone could draw a line between the game play of both players.
Second set was lead by Nadal from the fourth game, as he bagged the vital serve break, courtesy some poor shot selection from his opponent coupled with some commanding display of forehand down the line winners. In the ninth game,
Berdych broke back to level diminish the trail. Both players entered another tie-breaker round after a gruelling battle. This time Nadal made no mistake and earned an opportunity to level the scores.
Third set was close enough but Spaniard’s initial double break was vital that proved to be the pivotal factor. Berdych had one break point back but failed to clinch another break and lost the second match in succession. Last set
was absolutely cruel on Berdych because Nadal was fuming with confidence and his forehand returns were getting faster and faster. With the first successful break serve in the first game of the last set, Nadal lead the proceedings and the ‘irreplaceable Rafa’
moved into the semis with another quality break serve. It seems like second episode of Rafa’s era has begun.
He needs to go pass the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, to move into the grand finale of the Australian Open.
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