Tomas Berdych thrashes Michael Llodra in the round of 64 – French Open 2012
Czech Republic’s seventh seed, Tomas Berdych, made short work of world number 57, Michael Llodra of France, in the second round at the French Open in Paris on Wednesday. The Czech contender dropped just eight games in the entire
encounter, toppling his opponent in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last 32.
Berdych did not allow the local player to settle down, breaking the Frenchman in the opening game of the match and consolidating on it to move ahead 2-0. The Czech star struck again in the seventh and served it out at 5-2.
The second set saw a stable start from both contenders, as they won their serve in the first six games to square off the score at 3-3. It was all Berdych show later on, as he clinched three straight games to grab it 6-3.
In the third set, the Czech and Llodra held in the opening three games to take the score to 2-1 in the favour of the former. Berdych hit a blow to the Frenchman in the fourth and consolidated on it to attain a 4-1 lead. The 26-year-old
did not let away his advantage, as he won all of his serves and closed it 6-3.
Ranked seventh in the world, Berdych bombarded eight aces and 61 percent of the first deliveries on Llodra, claiming 36 of the 44 points on them. The Czech played near to flawless ground strokes, as he hit 42 winners and made just
six unforced errors in the match.
Commenting on his strategy, Llodra said, "I tried to return with a return volley, return volley, but he's so powerful. I wanted to chip the balls a little, to change the pace, but it was never good enough to bother him... He's
a serious client. He's shown this in the recent weeks, in the three [ATP World Tour] Masters [1000 tournaments]. There's not much I could do or could have done."
The Frenchman used this tactic with a hope to trouble Berdych, as he had used that to beat the Czech in straight sets at the US Open first round in 2010.
After that loss, a visibly dejected Berdych had said, “I just lost. If I would know that, maybe I would change what I did on the court. Why should I go there more often? It’s not my game, you know.”
The Czech is slated to play 34th seed, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, in the third round.
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