Tomas Berdych dumps Victor Crivoi to strengthen Czech lead – Davis Cup 2011 WG Play-offs: CZE vs ROU
The world number nine, Tomas Berdych, faced no real trouble in disposing of Victor Crivoi in the second singles rubber of the tie between Czech Republic and Romania in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs.
Berdych registered a convincing straight sets victory at 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4), to extend Czech Republic’s lead by 2-0 over Team Romania on Friday. The contest was staged on the outdoor clay courts of the Centrul National de Tenis,
Bucharest, Romania, with Crivoi failing to come up to the expectations of the enthusiastic home crowd.
The Romanian hung in the matchup for two hours and thirty five minutes before surrendering in straight sets to let Berdych a vital victory for his side. Crivoi proved to be an absolute mismatch for the world number nine and was
brutally manhandled by the Czech opponent. Berdych cruised through the opening two sets without any serious resistance from the Romanian rival but had to manoeuvre his way through the third set to conclude victory in style.
Berdych’s 59 per cent serve included eight thudding aces and two double faults, as he reeled off 39 out of his 54 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner. The Czech competitor crafted 12 break opportunities
in the contest and converted five of them en route to victory, with Crivoi registering merely two out of four break point conversions.
The Romanian coughed a total of 51 unforced errors in the match and scored 27 winners in all. His position was exacerbated by 46 cracking winners from Berdych, who kept with an aggressive strategy right from the first minute in
the game. Crivoi gathered up pace in the third set but all came a bit too late. He managed to drag the set into a tie breaker round but failed to hold on the momentum, succumbing to Berdych at 6-7(4) to let him away with victory.
The other Czech competitor, Radek Stepanek, also registered a convincing straight sets victory over Adrian Ungur in the opening singles rubber to give his squad an excellent start. Berdych’s win puts Czech Republic in a very strong
position of 2-0 in the competition and it will take some extra ordinary efforts from the Romanians to make their way back in the game. The Czech team needs just one more win to wrap up the competition in their favour, where as Team Romania will require winning
the doubles matchup, as well as the remaining two singles rubbers in succession if they desire victory in the competition.
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