PETE ZIEBRON
World #7 Tomas Berdych is seeking his first title in 16 months this week in Rotterdam. Pete Ziebron Images
Tomas Berdych has to wonder if just maybe he could have been crowned the 2014 Australian Open Champion a few weeks ago in Melbourne. He was all even at one set all in the semifinals with eventual Champion Stan Wawrinka when he dropped the next two sets in tiebreakers. Wawrinka would go on to play and defeat Rafael Nadal two days later in the Final.
Despite the loss to Wawrinka, Berdych stated this week in Rotterdam that the fact that Stan prevailed in the Final against Nadal actually gave the rest of the field hope and belief that they too could break through against the top players in a major Final: “Stan showed us that it is possible to win a Grand Slam. It was important to realize that if you work hard, then everything can click together and you can make it in the end. It isn’t only the right of two or three guys." Prior to Wawrinka's win in Melbourne, Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray combined to win 39 of the last 40 major Finals, with the exception being Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open in 2009.
This week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and with a new belief that his game is certainly capable of eventually winning a major, Tomas Berdych is striking the ball with authority. Today, after dropping the first set in a lengthy tiebreaker to Jerzy Janowicz, Berdych steadied his game and lost only 6 games the rest of the way en route to a 6-7(9) 6-2 6-4 win in his quarterfinal match. The 3rd seeded Berdych will play Ernests Gulbis tomorrow in the first semifinal.
Even though Berdych lost the Australian Open semi to Wawrinka, he chose to extract positives from the way he played in Melbourne and continues to play aggressive tennis in Rotterdam. The aftermath of the loss to Wawrinka actually reminded me of a round of 16 match that Berdych won against then #1 Roger Federer in 2010 when Berdych saved several match points and eventually prevailed in a 3rd set tiebreaker. Although the result was different for Berdych in Australia compared to Miami, the belief that he had in himself to win following each of those matches appears to be very similar then and now. Later in 2010, Berdych would once again defeat Federer in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and reached the Final at the All England Club in his only major Final appearance to date.
Including the win against Federer in Miami in 2010, Berdych has won 5 of the last 8 meetings against Federer. Prior to the win in Miami, Berdych was only able to manage 1 win against Federer in their 9 previous meetings, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Tomas Berdych, with his imposing service game and heavy forehands, will be seeking to win his first title since October 2012 when he won in Stockholm. A deep run at the Australian Open, a potential title this week in Rotterdam and a newly found belief that his game is able to beat the best in the sport may very well combine to elevate Tomas Berdych to win a major title this year.
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