Roger Federer battled past Tomas Berdych 6-2 3-6 7-6 (8-6) to reach the semifinals in Miami after saving two match points in the decisive third set.
“I think then I maybe let Tomas back into the match as well just a bit. He started to play bigger and better. I thought I played a pretty good third set to get the lead, and then I just played a shocker of a game to get broken. I didn’t see, somehow I lost a ball on the first point, then made a double fault, and then at Love-30 things are just complicated. Plus it was against the wind, so it was a very disappointing game for me. I tried to stay positive. I got a match point after that on the return where he went big on the second serve. Credit to him for just going for it. It was nice to see that you can do that. Then in the breaker I got incredibly lucky. I showed great heart today. It could have gone either way. I felt like maybe this one I should have lost and maybe I should have won the one against him here in the night session years ago. But that’s how it goes. I am happy I fought hard and somehow got it done today. The crowd were absolutely great.”
Federer served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but Berdych broke serve to love. The Czech player fended off a match point at 4-5 in the third set to force the match to the tie-break.
Berdych took a 6-4 lead in the tie-break to earn two match points. Federer saved both opportunities. Federer hit an ace to earn his second match point and sealed the win, as Berdych made a double fault at 6-7. The Swiss Maestro had not saved two match points en route to clinching a match win since fending off three opportunities in his win over Marin Cilic in the 2016 Wimbledon quarter final where he fought back from two sets down.
“I don’t feel like I deserved it too much, a double fault at that moment. I guess he was playing on the edge. I guess I like to see that he went out and went for it and kept believing until the very end. Maybe overcooked the last one unfortunately for him. I was totally surprised. I was ready for either a big serve to the forehand again or just something to the backhand. When it went out I was like. Are you serious ? It’s over. Okay. Of my God. That was really lucky. That was a strange moment. Totally unexpected. I guess you get better over time handling pressure. You have to be careful as you grow older not to play too conservative when it matters. You start playing percentages way too much when you get older because you have seen too many times what can happen. Sometimes when you have that young mind you just go for it and that’s when actually great things do happen. You just got to play committed tennis. It’s always a balance between playing the percentages yet play free and sort of young in the mind”.
Federer will take on Nick Kyrgios in the semifinal. The young Australian player beat Alexander Zverev in three sets in a clash between two Next Gen players. Kyrgios beat Federer in a third-set tie-break in their only head-to-head match in Madrid in 2015.
“Both Kyrgios and Zverev are great players. Both like the big stage. Both have a big serve. Both have real nice backhand and the belief, so that makes them just very tough to play, you know in any given match. I like their game and I think they are going to be very good players moving forward. They already are, but I am talking big picture.”.
