Tomas Berdych survived a second set scare to ease past Ryan Harrison 6-3 7-6(6) 6-2 to advance to round three of the Australian Open.
The world number ten looked tense in the opening stages as he tried to overpower the experienced American. His reward would come in the seventh game, where Berdych would break Harrison’s resistance for a 4-3 lead. The one break was enough as he used his big serve to seal the opening set 6-3.
The world number 82 needed to try somethings differently tactically and as a result made the match tighter in the second set. Both men were saving and creating break point opportunities to their opponents frustration. 18 break point opportunities were created during the match, two of those break points were set points for Berdych in the twelfth game. However he would be denied as a result the second set would go to a tiebreak. Berdych would use guts and big hitting to take the tiebreak 8-6, resulting in a 2 sets to love lead.
Despite the tight tiebreak, the former grand slam finalist continued his superiority from the first set as he broke Harrison twice to seal the match and a place in the last 32. Berdych will need to serve and play better if he is to reach his seventh Australian Open Quarterfinal in a row. Tomas Berdych will now be locked in a titanic battle with Roger Federer in the third round.
In other results Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko has earnt a spot in the third round after dispatching Israel’s Dudi Sela 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4. The world number 121 made a poor start to the match as he was broken twice in the first three games to go 3-0 down. The Israeli remained gritty on his own service games throughout the set, as a result he took the first set 6-2.
However Lacko would play better in the second set with a more aggressive style of play paying dividends as he broke in the fourth game to lead 4-2. Both men would continue to serve well and continue their momentum, this resulted in Lacko taking the second set 6-3.
The third set was unconventional as Sela, who is defending points earnt from his third round exit last year, broke early in the third set to lead 2-0. However three breaks in a row from Lacko undid any hard work that was achieved by the world number 67 as the Slovakian ran away with the third set 6-2. Lacko had momentum now, could he keep it to seal a massive win in his career?
Well we didn’t really know the answer to that question until the late stages of the set as both men cancelled out each other’s break of serves in the early stages. However it was the world number 67 who would crumble under pressure as usual as he was broken in the ninth game to give Lacko a 5-4 lead. The Slovakian would serve the match out to love to seal his best performance at the Australian Open since 2012. Lukas Lacko will play fifth seed Kei Nishikori in the third round.
