Tomas Berdych pushed to his limits against Ruben Bemelmans – Gerry Weber Open 2011
Second seeded Czech Tomas Berdych saved three match points in the second set tie-breaker before bouncing back to win against Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans at Gerry Weber Open, a build up of the Wimbledon.
He registered a 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 victory against the 23-year-old Belgian to advance into the second round of this tournament which is held in Halle, Germany on Tuesday.
The Czech, who won this tournament in 2007, faced match points in the tie-breaker but made an epic comeback to triumph over Bemelmans in two hours and fifteen minutes. Ranked 7th in the South African Airways ATP World
Tour rankings, Berdych got the break in the opening game of the decider to clinch the match against the Belgian, ranked 162 places below him, on their first meeting.
The qualifier confidently entered at Gerry Weber Stadion and held his opening serve superbly. He maintain his momentum and kept his remaining serves with massive forehands from his box of tricks and got the coveted break in the
end to seal the set by winning seven games to five. Bemelmans saved all three breakpoints faced and converted one out of two breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
Both players raised their level of game in the second set and played their best tennis. They held on to their entire serves with amazing skills and abilities and dragged the set to a tie-breaker. Berdych committed more double faults
and clobbered a lower first serve share of 58 percent as opposed to Belgian’s 73 percent but he bounced back after facing three match points in the tie-breaker to eventually clinch the equaliser with a 7-6(8) win.
Berdych carried his winning ways into the final set and got the desiderated break in the very first game to take the initial lead. Later he held his entire serves through his blistering forehands and bagged the set with a 6-4 score
line. The Czech produced an exceptional first serve share of 82 percent and earned a perfect win on it. Furthermore, he faced zero breakpoint and converted one out of six breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
“I was feeling quite good on the court,” Berdych said after the match. “I was really trying to do it until the last ball, not give him a single point because I know how tough it is to close the match.”
Next challenge for the highest seeded player of this ATP World Tour 250 series event, since top seeded Roger Federer withdrew, is his fellow countryman, Jan Hernych. The qualifier, Hernych stunned Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in
a three set thriller to reach this spot.
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