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It was hard to predict coming into the Berdych V Federer quarterfinals. Roger Federer has an incredible record generally and at Wimbledon but hasn’t played particularly well coming into the match. Tomas Berdych recently claimed Fed’s scalp in Miami when the Swiss maestro wasn’t playing particularly well, however Berdych has played one five setter and a four setter in his two matches prior to the meeting so there was a chance that he might fail, maybe following the path set by Jurgen Melzer. In 2009 Berdych took a two sets to love lead over Federer and was in an advantageous position in the third set before he choked terribly, but there was no choking today.
Tomas Berdych played inspired tennis in the first set breaking Federer and closing the set out at 6-4. Then he switched off a little bit in the second, allowing Federer to claim an early break. At times Fed’s forehand seemed to be working well but his slice backhand was consistently off. What changed in the second set was Federer’s tactics. Instead of going deep in the court with his returns, he started creating incredible angles making Berdych work significantly harder to claim points.
The third set saw another shift in momentum, Berdych breaking Federer twice and demonstrating the easy power he can get off his ground strokes. He first broke for a 2-0 lead and then again for a 5-1 lead. Roger continued his woeful record with Hawk Eye challenges throughout the match, regularly failing on challenges.
In the fourth game of the fourth set Berdych came out on top of a huge point, Federer coming out on top of the next as the game became a slugg-fest for Berdych to hold. Federer tried to use his forehand to get back into the match but eventually Tomas was able to hold using his huge serve to get him out of trouble. The heavy hitting, penetrating forehands of Berdych pushed Federer in the following game.
Some errors and two double faults gave Federer triple break point at 3-2. The Czech player managed to defend all three with some incredible serving and shot making before handing over another break point with a forehand unloaded into the net. A wild forehand from the top seed allowed Berdych to hold and level at 3-3.
Between the first and fourth set Federer’s first serve percentage dropped by around 20%. A huge forehand cross court from Berdych saw Federer push a volley wide for the pivotal break and a 4-3 lead and a chance to serve for 5-3. Federer sprayed forehands everywhere as he battled to stay in the match, only his serve saving him
Berdych tightened a little but eventually defeated Federer 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. He will next face Novak Djokovic for a place in the finals.
The match was Federer’s 25th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance. The loss means Federer will drop to number 3 in the rankings for the first time since 2003.
