Curtain Call
Player: Tomas Berdych
Age: 26
Nation: Czech Republic
Current Ranking: 7
Notable Conquest: Roger Federer (Switzerland, 1st seed)
Today's Result: loss to Andy Murray (UK, 3rd) in four sets
Photo via This Is Guernsey
Roger Federer has only failed to make the semis three times over the past 34 Majors. (Let that sentence sink in for a minute before you read further.) Two of those three times, it was Berdych who knocked him out in the quarters. Federer still holds an overall 11-4 head-to-head advantage but all four of Berdych's wins came in big tournaments: two Slams, the 2004 Olympics and the 2010 Miami Masters. Is there something about Berdych's game that is troubling for Fed? Berdych's main asset is the power in his ground strokes - not unlike Del Potro, actually. JMDP is the only man besides Nadal to beat Fed in a Slam final. Both Berdych and Del Potro are on the tall side, too. Fed is definitely a better player than either but they're good enough to expose his vulnerabilities on an off day.
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