Djokovic becomes Berdych’s next prey

LONDON: Tomas Berdych clinched a place in the Wimbledon final for the first time as the Czech 12th seed defeated Serbian third-seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6 (11/9), 6-3. Berdych is also the first man from his country to reach the Wimbledon final since Ivan Lendl did in 1987.

Since the start of the French Open, Berdych has been in his best form. He reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros and recently overwhelmed six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, producing the biggest upset of the Wimbledon tournament so far.

With Djokovic looking slightly inhibited by the occasion in the first set, it was not long before the Czech’s barrage of booming serves made the Serb miss two easy forehands to give him the first break after six games. Berdych was showing no signs of a hangover from his victory over Federer and had no trouble serving out the set.

Djokovic had a chance to get back into the match when he earned a break point early in the second set, but soon Berdych came up with a crushing forehand winner to get out of trouble. Berdych racked up three break points of his own at 5-5 and converted the second when Djokovic smashed an overhead way off target to surrender his serve.

That looked like being a killer blow for Djokovic, but he raised himself when Berdych served for the set and broke for the first time to force a tie-break. After an hour of baffling lethargy, Djokovic was beginning to play with the nerves that define his game.

He was chasing down every ball and even when he fell 6-2 behind in the breaker, he managed to save the four set-points. Djokovic fought off another two set-points and seemed to be turning the tide, but suddenly he imploded as a double-fault gifted Berdych the set. That was the defining moment of the match. After fighting so hard to stay in the tie, Djokovic seemed exhausted in the third set.

It was only a matter of time before Berdych got the crucial break and he did so in the eighth game before serving out the best win of his life.

“The feeling is absolutely amazing,” said Berdych. “It is a dream to be in the final of any Grand Slam and if you can reach it, Wimbledon is the top one.

After his defeat, Djokovic admitted this week that he has suffered a crisis of confidence over the last few months and even his progress to the last four had been a triumph for his spirit rather than a reward for particularly fluent play.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2010.