Tennis in 2010: Top Ten Matches of the Year (Part II)
Wimbledon Championships: Tomas Berdych vs. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
This year, it seemed as if the Grand Slams were full of wannabe Majors Champions. At Roland Garros, Swede Robin Soderling stepped up to the challenge of battling the World Number 1 and Number 2 on their way for yet another Grand Slam championship title.
At Wimbledon, Czech Number 1 Tomas Berdych took it upon himself to throw a spanner in the wheels of Federer and Nadal’s continuous series of victories at the Grand Slam championships. Roger Federer has been hopeful for another Wimbledon victory, which would
have given him his 17th Grand Slam title and seventh crown at the All England Club. Nadal’s win would be his second successful Wimbledon campaign.
In his own Wimbledon run, Tomas Berdych won the first two matches he played in straight sets. His first tough match was in the third round, where Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin gave him a run for his money in five sets 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Berdych then went
on to score a fourth round victory over German tennis pro Daniel Brands, and this promoted him to a quarterfinal match against the first seed and defending champion Roger “the Swiss Maestro” Federer.
Federer was at a disadvantage here, for a change; his level of play had crashed after the Aussie Open and he found himself challenged by the tournament’s most up-and-coming player. The two pros had met previously on ten occasions; Berdych had scored two
victories against the Swiss player. One of these was in the early round of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and the second was at the 2010 ATP Masters Tournament in Miami.
At Wimbledon, Berdych applied unrelenting pressure on Federer to defeat him on his favourite surface. The match lasted for approximately two hours and thirty minutes, with Berdych scoring a victory at 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 with a forehand winner.
Although the match had its precarious moments in the last set, Berdych stayed steady and kept his nerves under control to send Federer packing early on in the tournament. From 2003 to 2009, Federer has appeared in the Wimbledon finals every single time.
This is the first time in almost 8 years that he was forced to leave early.
Berdych went on to defeat Serbian pro Novak Djokovic in the semi finals 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. At the same time, Nadal defeated British World Number 1 Andy Murray 6-4, 6-6, 6-4. For the first time, it was Tomas Berdych who faced World Number 1 Rafael Nadal on Centre
Court for the title match of the Wimbledon Championships. Before the final, Nadal had the head to head advantage at 7-3.
Contrary to the rest of Berydch’s run, the final of the Grand Slam was largely uneventful. It is a frequent occurrence; an underdog will beat the competition to reach the largest stage of a tournament, but will not be able to prove himself against his opponent
at the end. Consequently, the title match lacked fire and flair; Nadal took down his opponent quickly and methodically, and covered all bases to win the match in two hours and thirteen minutes. The final score line was 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
This was Nadal’s eight Grand Slam win, and his second consecutive Majors title of 2010.
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