Tomas Berdych is one of the top players on the tour, but as he suffers yet another loss to a player ranked inside the top eight, questions are arising regarding his performance against the best in the world.
His straight sets loss to Novak Djokovic is the 13th time he has lost to a top eight player out of his 14 previous encounters. Despite the series of losses, Berdych is definitely not a poor player. This season the 30-year-old has claimed 2 ATP titles (Shenzhen and Stockholm) and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. Speaking his most recent loss to a top player, Berdych spoke about the possibility of his mentality being the reason behind his recent shortcomings.
“Yes, I mean, that’s definitely one of the aspects that I need to work on or basically be able to get better in those matches, playing those top guys”. Berdych said.
I don’t know if it’s a matter of being more focused or being stronger or whatever part it is. You can really call it whatever you want. In the end, it’s a matter of if the ball lands in between the lines, you play good tennis”.
The question about the Czech’s mentality was triggered following a similarity between his loss to Roger Federer as well as Djokovic this week. In both matches, Berdych remained level until the business end where his error count dramatically increases due to the added pressure, enabling his opponent to easily break him.
Another person to pick up on Berdych’s mental vulnerability was Novak Djokovic. Discussing his 21st win over the Czech, the world No.1 believes that he has a ‘mental edge’ over him.
“I think I have won so many times against him because maybe I have the mental edge, maybe it is an advantage in the important moments, decisive moments, where I’m able to stick around and stay tough and believe that I can actually win”. Djokovic said.
Berdych admitted that he takes the same approach to whoever he players, whether they are ranked No.1 or No.100. The Czech ends his week at the ATP Finals bottom of the Stan Smith group. Despite his disappointing end to 2015, the 30-year-old is still happy with what he has achieved this year as he looks ahead to next season.
“I think it was a very good and solid year for me. I’m just going to try all the positives from the whole season, just keep doing what’s on the plan, just working hard and be strong again for the next season”. Berdych said.
Speaking about who could win this week’s ATP Finals, Berdych has lent his support behind Rafael Nadal. Nadal has never won the event in his career. The world No.6 explained that he is backing the 9-time French Open champion as he is ‘looking pretty good’ during his matches.
Tomas Berdych’s 2015 win-loss against the top eight
Novak Djokovic 0-4
Andy Murray 0-2
Roger Federer 0-2
Rafael Nadal 1-1
Milos Raonic 1-0 (Raonic retired)
Kei Nishikori 0-1
Total Win – Loss = 2-13