Berdych through to China Open final
- By Johanna Yueh
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China.org.cn, October 9, 2011
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| Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic returns the ball during the semifinal of men's singles against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France at China Open Tennis Tournament in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2011. Berdych won 2-1(6-4, 4-6, 6-1). |
Tomas Berdych is on to the China Open men's singles final after defeating top-seed and world No. 7, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a thrilling three-set match on a chilly and foggy Saturday night in Beijing.
Berdych, seeded third in the tournament and ranked No. 10 in the world, took just over two hours to beat crowd-favorite Tsonga 6-4 4-6 6-1.
Both players held tightly to their serve during the match. Neither player could muster up a break point until the final game of the first set, when Tsonga netted a forehand return down the line from Berdych, who took the set when Tsonga hit a wild forehand.
Tsonga would come roaring back. At 4-4 in the second set, Tsonga used his powerful forehand to gain a 30-0 lead and drew loud cheers from the crowd. An unforced error from Berdych gave him two break points, but he only needed one to take a 5-4 lead.
Berdych then gained an opportunity to break after Tsonga failed to convert a set point. But Tsonga sent down two powerful serves to erase the advantage. Tsonga finally converted on his third set point with commanding baseline shots that forced Berdych to send a wild forehand long.
Tsonga could not carry his momentum into the third set, however. Several unforced errors allowed Berdych to build a 4-1 advantage. And despite needing to get his ankle rewrapped, Berdych remained calm and went on to break Tsonga at love.
Serving for the match at 40-30, Berdych sent a 205-kilometer-per-hour ace down the middle to put an exclamation point on his victory.
He faces 2009 runner-up Marin Cilic in the final on Sunday. No. 25 Cilic defeated compatriot and China Open doubles partner, Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-3 earlier in the day by relying on his dominant serve.
