In praise of a perfect tie-break
Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray were pretty much inseperable at 6-6 in the first set of their quarter-final meeting in Madrid last night. It was not the only number they had in common at that moment. They were also equal in their head to head, tied at 4-4. And they were tied on career wins, too, both men having won 401 matches each.
In the tiebreak though, Berdych put some distance between them. The tiebreak is the time to take risks and it was Berdych who, the natural aggressor of the two, did just that.
Berdych, last year’s runner-up in the Spanish capital, started the tiebreak as he meant to go on. Serving flat and out wide, he took the return to the middle of the court on with his forehand, hitting it to Murray’s backhand side and then charged forward to take on Murray’s sliced backhand down the line, volleying it plum on the line for a winner. It was the perfect play to open the breaker and state his intent.
Berdych then worked out his forehand, whipping it cross court and forcing Murray to defend until he earned the short ball which he stepped in and whacked down the line for a winner.
Leading 2-1 and with a mini-break, Berdych further stamped his authority by once more hitting cross court with his forehand and then coming in to hit a backhand volley down the line.
It was not just the forehand that was working wonders though. The backhand was a treat, too. Murray went to it on the next point but Berdych did not falter. He went cross court and then down the line. Murray pulled him in with a drop shot, which Berdych retrieved. The attempt at a lob by Murray went wide though and Berdych had a 4-1 lead.
A huge forehand return off a Murray serve down the middle and Tomas had another mini-break.
Murray serves an ace and it is 5-2. Two service points won and Berdych has the set. On the first one he goes out wide and gets the short return in the middle of the court. He does not miss the forehand winner.
Set point Berdych. For the first time he falters. A body serve draws another short ball but his forehand goes wide.
On Berdych’s second set point, he gets the forehand going again and it is once more too much for Murray who tries to go down the line rather than be blown away by another barrage. Murray strikes too soon and hits the ball wide and Berdych takes the first set.
The Czech takes the mental edge, too. If ever there were a tiebreak to say I can beat you on this surface tonight, this was it. Berdych goes on to take the second set 6-4, lead the head to head 5-4 and pip Murray to career win number 402, too.
Watch highlights of the match here:
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