15th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic became the latest seeded player to depart the men’s draw. The veteran and former Wimbledon finalist was beaten 3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 by Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Berdych won the first set, but the second set quickly went the way of the Ukrainian. A tight third set followed which Dolgopolov won in a tie break. Dolgopolov also got off to a hot start in the fourth set, breaking for 4-2 and not dropping another game thereafter.
Despite the defeat, Berdych actually adds points this year. He was forced to miss last year’s US Open after suffering from appendicitis. Despite that small positive, going out in the second round will still represent a disappointing effort for the Czech.
Berdych’s loss means that top seed and World No.1 Rafael Nadal cannot now face a seed until the quarter-finals. Nadal should have faced Richard Gasquet in the third round before Berdych in the fourth, but both failed to reach the meetings with Nadal after first and second round exits respectively.
It was a better day for Viktor Troicki. The Serbian is unseeded this year after some indifferent form but Troicki picked up after a tough first round. He had taken five sets to oust Norbert Gombos, and had expected to face the seeded Fabio Fognini in the second round. He did face an Italian, but instead it was Stefano Travaglia, a qualifier who had upset his compatriot Fognini in the first round.
Encouraged by the unexpected draw Troicki proceeded to beat Travaglia 7-5, 7-6, 6-0. Troicki will now face Alexandr Dolgopolov after the Ukrainian’s shock win over Berdych, with one of the pair guaranteed a fourth round appearance. The winner of the Dolgopolov-Troicki third round match will likely face World No.1 and top seed Rafael Nadal. Nadal is still yet to play his second round match with Taro Daniel, before a potential meeting with Yuichi Sugita or Leonarda Mayer in the third
