Berdych comes back from the brink to defeat Roddick and reach the Tokyo final

Tomas Berdych, looked down and out most of the match against Andy Roddick but edged it out in a third set tie-break to reach the final of Tokyo, where he next meets Juan Martin Del Potro.

The match, aside from the third set tie-break which was played superbly from Berdych, was characterized by minor concentration lapses or small poor patches of play from both players which was enough to make the difference at each of the crucial points in a closely contested match. Roddick was in the driver’s seat for most of the match, holding onto an early break lead in the opening game of the third set to serve for the match at 5-3 in the final decisive set, but couldn’t finish Berdych off and subsequently lost in a third set tie-break.

The first set could be best described as efficient, with both Roddick and Berdych winning points typically the way they would like to, with Roddick serving a high percentage of first serves like he so often does and taking care of his service games, and Berdych controlling the tempo of the baseline rallies, backed up by some big serving of his own.

The turning point was at 5-5 in the first set, when Berdych hit an off forehand that landed deep right on the baseline on break point down, much to Roddick’s displeasure. That was when Roddick started to have a running dialogue with Norm Chryst on the chair for the rest of the match, and even to someone in his box. While Berdych went on to hold serve that game, that point effectively had no impact on the outcome of the match as Roddick went on to win that set in a tie-break, but it did affect Roddick’s performance later on. He was grumpy and frustrated, he was distracted and his performance was lacking in intensity, and he only has himself to blame.

The most fascinating aspect of the match was to watch the contrasting manner in which both players went about in their approach to the baseline rallies. Roddick is intent to keep the pressure on his opponent by forcing his opponents to come up with winning shots time after time. He tries to win points any way he can even if it doesn’t necessarily look effective, and that makes him a better match player in the long run than someone like Berdych who doesn’t adjust his game according to the calibre of player he is facing.

Berdych has the ability to generate impressive weight of shot and power on his groundstrokes seemingly through timing and good balance and positioning on his shots, whereas Roddick puts noticeable effort and energy into all of his shots and movements. Berdych’s shots seem to be able to shoot through the court, more so than other players, and often he made Roddick’s groundstrokes look lightweight in comparison. Even when Berdych was hitting a safe rally shot, it looked like the equivalent of a typical player’s aggressive shot, which would have to be one of his biggest strengths. His movement around the court is equally as effortless, and I particularly like the way he moves around his backhand to hit that off forehand, which he used often in this match more as a setup shot to open the court, which he would often follow up with an accurate forehand down-the-line.

In the rallies, Roddick looked more like he was trying to keep up with Berdych and take advantage of any minor slip-ups that Berdych had, which turned out to be an effective enough strategy for the majority of the match, but in the end, Roddick made a couple of poor errors of his own to lose the lead that he had created for himself.

The way Berdych sets himself to hit his groundstrokes, he likes to have the ball coming to him at a predictable height, preferably up high so he doesn’t have to bend down low and because his margin of shot over the net can be a problem. He can handle the occasional slice but he has to see it coming early. In the third set, Berdych was broken in the opening game of the third set, making two very tame errors getting caught flat-footed on very makeable shots, that were played deep right down on his feet perhaps showing that he is more comfortable at using his wingspan to move to a ball, rather than making the necessary adjustments to return a shot coming towards his body. Berdych rarely mixes up the height and spin that he generates on the ball, even defensively, where you rarely see him throw up a higher loopier ball to give himself more time to get back into position.