Tomas Berdych escapes scare against Kei Nishikori in round three – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
World number seven, Tomas Berdych, saved an upset against the 17th ranked Japanese, Kei Nishikori, to reach the quarter-final stage of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Thursday. He lost the first set but bounced back
to win the match 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
It was a stunning encounter and more importantly, a breathtaking comeback from the Czech who was on the verge of gifting away the triumph to the 12th seed Japanese. It was the third straight head-to-head win for Berdych
who took a couple of hours to escape the scare. Nishikori is yet to open his account against the Czech in his professional career.
The opening set witnessed an incredible display of all-round strokes from the Japanese who broke twice on the trot to take a resounding lead of 4-0. Berdych tried to snail his way back but wasn’t allowed a single opportunity to
break serve by his counterpart. Just two games for the sixth seed Czech and his opponent was away to a set lead in the match.
However, facing such a crushing blow in the first set, the Czech regrouped in the break and showed greater control on his serves. He kept on exerting pressure on the Japanese and finally got rewarded in the sixth game in a form
of a breakpoint. That moment created an opening for him and he cruised past the 12th seed Japanese winning another breakthrough to level the set scores at one apiece.
The final set witnessed a tight battle between the two players. Nishikori was the first player to save a breakpoint in the second game and dodge the scare. No more openings were seen for both players in the final battle and the
scores tickled over to 4-5 in favour of the Czech with his opponent to serve the following game.
It was mandatory for the Japanese to hold serve and keep the match alive but he dropped three back-to-back points giving 40:0 lead to his rival. Berdych was not going to waste that supreme opportunity and he ended the resistance
of his opponent to book a date with the third seed Briton, Andy Murray.
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