Tomas Berdych tops Jarkko Nieminen in round three – Winston-Salem Open 2012
Second seed, Tomas Berdych, got the better of the Finn number one, Jarkko Nieminen, in straight sets at the Winston-Salem Open 2012 on Wednesday. He penned down a 6-3, 6-2 victory against the 16th seed to charge into the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Winston Salem in North Carolina.
The wild card recipient proved his class after dumping Nieminen in their seventh meeting at this outdoor hard court tournament. After recording the victory in one hour and six minutes, the Czech improved to 6-1 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Nieminen and secured a spot in the final eight.
Berdych high spiritedly entered the Wake Forest University. He easily kept his opening serve and took the initial lead. The Czech maintained consistency in his game and held his remaining serves without facing any trouble. He got the breakthrough by cashing in lone break opportunity in the eighth game and ultimately clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked seventh in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Berdych carried his rhythm in the follow-up set. He got the coveted break in the opening game and jumped to a 2-0 lead. The Czech held his remaining serves with conviction and capitalised on another break chance in the seventh game, eventually sealing the set by winning six games to two.
All in all, the Czech smashed five aces but clobbered a lower first serve share of 47 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 69 per cent. However, he amazingly marked 19 out of 25 points on it and converted three out of five break chances to his advantage.
The 26-year-old will square off against the Belgian star Steve Darcis. The underdog stunned fifth seed, Andy Roddick, in straight sets to set up this match. Darcis squandered all three break opportunities but dusted away the lone breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serves. He dominated in the tie-breaker of both sets to carve out the victory with a 7-6(6), 7-6(3) score line in one hour and 51 minutes.
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