Berdych Upends Djokovic, While Paire Continues to Impress in Rome
May 17, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Tomas Berdych recorded his first win in three years over Novak Djokovic in dramatic fashion as he reached the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the world number one-ranked Djokovic. Berdych trailed 6-2, 5-2 before coming back to stun Djokovic, two-time Internazionali BNL d’Italia champion. The Czech overturned a 1-13 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Djokovic, his first win over Djokovic since the 2010 Wimbledon semis.
"I lost concentration and started to play more defensively," said Djokovic. "I played a bad game at 5-3 and made some unforced errors. At this level you have to take advantage of the opportunities and I lost this game by myself."
Berdych will face defending champion Rafael Nadal in the semis, as Nadal holds a 13-3 lifetime record against Berdych and has not beaten Nadal in nearly seven years. Nadal advanced to the semis after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over fellow countryman David Ferrer. Nadal now holds a 19-4 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Ferrer. As a result of beating Ferrer in the quarterfinals, should Nadal win the title in Rome, he would overtake Ferrer at fourth in the Emirates ATP Rankings and be seeded fourth at Roland Garros.
A surprise entrant into the semis is world number 36 Benoit Paire, who dismissed Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-0 in just under an hour. Paire will face Roger Federer in the semis, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Jerzy Janowicz.
Paire is enjoying the best season of his career, reaching a career-high 32nd in the Emirates ATP Rankings last month. The right-hander reached his second ATP World Tour final at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier in February and was a semifinalist at the Aircel Chennai Open.
