Berdych Defeats Anderson to Secure London Spot
Tomas Berdych became the sixth player to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday, defeating Kevin Anderson 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 to move into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. It is the fifth consecutive year that Berdych has made it to end of the year finals, and is the eighth semifinal he has reached this year.
Berdych entered his quarterfinal bout against Anderson with 11 straight wins over the South African, but Anderson got the better of Berdych early.The two exchanged break points in the opening set, forcing the frame into a tie-breaker.
Anderson was able to break again in the breaker to take it 7-4 and capture the first set, snapping an eight-set losing streak to his Czech opponent. He was helped out by two double-faults from Berdych and ripped six aces of his own.
Berdych quickly seized momentum in the second set. He broke Anderson in the opening game to get a break advantage, and did not relinquish it, not facing a single break point for the remainder of the set. He won 87% of his first serves and fired four aces to cruise to the 6-4 set win.
Anderson responded right back in the third frame, however, and grabbed a 3-1 lead after breaking Berdych in the fourth game. From there, the match was all Berdych, rallying off five of the next six games to push past Anderson and into the Paris semifinals.
Berdych plays the winner of seventh-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic and second-seeded Swiss Roger Federer in the semis.
With Berdych qualifying, that leaves two vacant spots for the ATP Finals in London next month.
