Solid Berdych saves 3 match points to upset Federer in Dubai semifinal

What an upset! … and what a pity for Federer!

1st set

Both players were playing really well. The Maestro was attacking everything he could and the Czech was giving everything back. That was a sheer entertainment. The first set was decided by the only sloppy service game by Berdych when he was 3-4 down. Tomas committed 2 double faults that basically gave the game and the set to Roger.

2nd set

The second set was also a close encounter with Berdych breaking the Maestro in the 6 game to then grab a 5-2 lead. Then it was time for Roger to fight back, break Berdych and bring the set to the tiebreak. Here Roger had 2 match points as he was leading 6-4, but he couldn’t convert them to squander another one when he was 8-7 up. Tomas won the following 3 points to win the tiebreak at 8.

3rd Set

Something broke in Roger’s game. The problem is that if you are so aggressive like he was in the first 2 sets, it’s difficult to keep the same pace if you have doubts in you head. So Roger started to shank some shots, Tomas took advantage of it to break the Maestro in the 5th game. The Roger started to rush to the net like a mad man with aim to avoid ground strokes nad that was end… 

“Obviously I leave this match with a lot of regrets,” said Federer. “I’m feeling… serving for the match, with the serve, having chances in the beginning of the second, when he wasn’t quite in the match yet, to go break up, [a] set and a break. [There were] a few points where things just didn’t happen for me. 

From Berdych

“I couldn’t be feeling any better,” said Berdych. “I would say almost in front of his home crowd and to be the one who won that match, it really feels great. I’m very pleased the way I played today.”

“In every single point, I was believing in myself, trying to be just focused on that single point. I didn’t want to see the score and just go one by one. It worked. It’s the kind of tactic that I will try to stick with and try to bring it for every single match.”

From Federer

“Obviously I leave this match with a lot of regrets,” said Federer. “I’m feeling… serving for the match, with the serve, having chances in the beginning of the second, when he wasn’t quite in the match yet, to go break up, set and a break. A few points where things just didn’t happen for me. 

“He’s got obviously a big game, has a big serve which makes him difficult to play maybe on a quick court than a slower court. Maybe you can move him around a bit more, but at the same time he has more time to set up the shot, whereas the way the game has gone he has adapted really well to those conditions.”

2013 ATP Dubai - Draw