Tomas Berdych stuns Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to enter semis – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012
Czech star, Tomas Berdych, surprised everyone after jolting down the fifth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in straight sets at the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012 on Friday. He clobbered a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory against the French number one to power into the semi-finals
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event held in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China.
Seeded fourth in this event, Berdych proved his class after tumbling the world number six at this hard court tournament taking place from 6th to 14th October. After earning the success in one hour and 34 minutes, the Czech not only
avenged his loss at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London last season but also took lead in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 2-1 against Tsonga.
Ranked seventh in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Berdych assertively entered the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. He swiftly plucked his entire serves without facing any real challenge. The Czech cashed in the lone break opportunity
in the eighth game and eventually sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
The 27-year-old Czech maintained consistency in his game in the following set. He warded off all four breakpoints he faced to keep his entire serves. Later, Berdych squandered all three break chances but managed to drag the set to a tie-breaker. He edged
past the French in it and consequently clicked the set with a 7-6(4) win.
Summing up the Czech’s performance, Berdych fired nine aces and spilled equal number of double faults. He nudged up a lower first serve share of 61 per cent as compared to his rival’s 64 per cent but impressively marked 38 out of 43 points on it. The Czech
dusted away all breakpoints he faced and finished the match with 72 points.
Next in queue for Berdych is the conqueror of the match between second seeded Novak Djokovic and the former world number two, Tommy Haas. The German veteran crushed sixth seeded Janko Tipsarevic with a breadstick while the world number two dumped Spain’s
Feliciano Lopez in straight sets to reach this spot.
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