Novak Djokovic battles past Tomas Berdych in a very tight quarter final in Paris Bercy - UBITENNIS

Novak Djokovic battles past Tomas Berdych in a very tight quarter final in Paris Bercy

By sampaolo
3 Min Read

Novak Djokovic edged Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-8) in a very tight match with no breaks of serve. With this win Djokovic has improved his winning streak to 20 consecutive matches and to 28 consecutive sets. He has also won 34 consecutive matches indoors since his last defeat in Paris Bercy in 2012 against Sam Querrey.

Berdych earned set points in both sets but failed to convert them with forehand errors. For the first time in his 680 win on the ATP Tour Djokovic could not break his rival’s serve but he managed to win the most crucial points

Djokovic now holds a 20-2 lead in his head-to-head matches against Berdych, including seven indoor wins. This year Djokovic had won his previous two matches in three sets against Berdych in the Dubai semifinal and in the Monte-Carlo final.

Both players served very well and there were very few opportunities to break serve.

The first set went on serve with just two break points. Djokovic brought up only one break point in the third game. Berdych brought up his only break point on the set point at 5-6 on Djokovic’s serve with a backhand down the line. Djokovic saved the break point by winning three consecutive points with his serve and forehand to force the set to tie-break.

Djokovic got a double mini-break in the tie-break to go up 4-1. He earned four set points at 6-2. He converted his second set point with his forehand to win his 27th consecutive set with 7-3. Both players hit 10 winners but Djokovic made 12 unforced errors to Berdych’s 20.

The second set went on serve with no break points. Only the fifth game went to deuce and was won by Djokovic on serve. In the second set tie.break Djokovic took a 5-3 lead. Berdych won three consecutive points to take the edge with 6-5 but he wasted his first set point as he missed a forehand down the line. Berdych earned a second set point with a backhand down the line. At 7-7 Berdych hit two forehands out to give Djokovic his first match point but the Serbian star hit a forehand long for 8-8. Berdych handed Djokovic a second match point. Djokovic converted it as Berdych hit a backhand into the net after two hours and seven minutes.

Djokovic hit 19 winners to 22 unforced errors and won 80 percent of his first serve points. Berdych made 38 unforced errors.

 

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