Recap of the fiercest battles of 2012: Federer vs. Berdych – Madrid Open 2012
Ranked world number two, Roger Federer, secured his 20th ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) in the 1000-point title held at the clay courts of Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Spain.
The Swiss professional rallied past the Czech contender, Tomas Berdych, in a three set match, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in two hours and 38 minutes.
In a post match interview, Federer told the media, “It’s been a great spell and I couldn’t be more happy right now coming off a break winning right away. It’s always an ideal scenario for what’s to come. I was worried about getting through the first round
and was not even thinking about who was going to be my second round opponent. I was very realistic coming into this event. Confidence is coming back. I was away and it didn’t take much for me to get my confidence back, especially now that I’ve been playing
so well for the past nine months. It was tough. I was almost down the entire time.”
The Basel native was unable to display his hidden potential a very long time after his former loss by the Serbian, Novak Djokovic. This tournament without doubt proved to be an icebreaker for him. He made his notable comeback in the competitive tennis after
prevailing over the Canadian junior, Milos Raonic, in the second round, consolidating his three set triumph, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). This brought a remarkable strength in him and he swiftly bagged away wins in all the rounds in straight set against the lower ranked
challengers David Ferrer and in the semi-finals against Janko Tipsarevic.
The 27-year-old Czech commenced his match a remarkable pace and clinched a 2-0 lead against the higher ranked professional. Gradually, the Swiss veteran picked momentum and served with poise for the following set. Berdych lost his transcending tempo, as
he was unable to fight back. He double faulted at the critical moment in the match and had to pay a heavy price. The encounter between the two started to get tougher in the third set. Federer cashed on his opponent’s break in the eighth game but the score
line levelled down to 5-all at very next juncture.
The two professional faced each other for the 11th time since 2004. In the earlier past, the two faced each other in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters in 2011. The Swiss has always dominated them in the head to head series since the last five matches.
The right-hander Swiss professional, celebrated his third win from the five matches he played. In the year 2006, he won for the first time and 2009 against the king of clay, Rafael Nadal. After his win, Federer levelled down Nadal’s record of 20 titles.
He appeared in his 104th ATP final event and secured his fourth title of this season and 74th overall.
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