Tomas Berdych: Maybe If I Lose Once More To Nadal Tomorrow I Will Beat Him At The French Open!
Did you know Tomas Berdych has a sense of humor. The burly Czech was in a good mood of sorts after beating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic today 26, 75, 64 in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open Rome. The win snapped an 12-match losing streak Berdych had against the Serb.
Tomorrow, Berdych plays another player he’s had great difficulty beating, Rafael Nadal. In fact Berdych has also lost to the Spaniard 12 straight times, 13 of 16 overall. The similar streak to Djokovic’s prompted Berdych to joke he needed one more loss to Rafa – making it an even dozen – before he’d get that win.
“You can have a player that you never beat and I did it 3 times then lost 12 times,” Berdych said. “Same with Novak but only one win and then 11 times and so perhaps I need to lose once more to Nadal and hopefully it will be here and then I’ll beat him in the French Open.
“So if you like numbers then this is my reply. It hard to pick one that is harder to beat. Both I have pretty bad records with both but I think that it was easier with Novak but I am able to beat him only once until today and so you cannot ask me that. I’ll just try on court and see what happens.”
Sounds like Berdych messed up his math. I don’t understand how losing to him Saturday would put him in a better position to win mathematically in Paris because he stopped Novak’s streak at 11, but Nadal’s is already at 12.
Berdych though showed he can overcome the number though erasing a 52 deficit in the second set to win the last five games in stunning fashion.
“I was trying to stay positive from the beginning,” said Berdych who is seeking a first title on the year. “I was trying to stay there and there are matches that you get not a single chance and then if you get one, then you are ready and then everything could turn the other way. This is what happened and at 53. I wondered, should I change the racquet and balls and then I did and we were there for a bit longer and the second.”
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