It was the sixth meeting between the two players. The previous five were a clear indicator that this one wouldn’t be over in jiffy. Although Berdych led their head to head 3-2 (which included a four set victory at Roland Garros in 2014) it was Bautista who held the upper hand on hard courts with two victories to one.
Bautista may be Spanish but his style of play is as far away from his compatriots as possible, and just like Berdych, his biggest weapons are his powerful and flat groundstrokes, with rallies between the two reaching astonishing ball speeds. The Spaniard was a late bloomer, having played football in the Villarreal academy until his late teens, and was outside the top 100 only four years ago, so he was aware that this was a huge chance to reach a Grand Slam quarter final for the very time.
His belief and momentum from winning the Auckland title last week carried him to the first set 6-4. But with two five-setters already in his legs at this year’s event, Bautista was at risk of burning out and Berdych had to make sure he stuck around to try and force the Spaniard’s fuel gauge into reserve.
A backhand volley winner when Bautista was serving at 4-5 in the second set allowed the Czech player to swoop in and steal the set. It was a severe blow to his opponent, who struggled to keep Berdych at bay in the third set. Bautista may have saved seven break points at 1-2 but at 2-3 he finally surrendered his service and the number six seed closed out the set 6-3.
Taking all of the factors into consideration, the logical thing would have been for Berdych to run away with the fourth but Bautista is a player whose foundation is his hard work, humility and sacrifice. He knows better than anyone how long and arduous the road to the top is and these opportunities don’t pop up many times in a lifetime. He started ripping into the ball and Berdych was a mere spectator as Bautista forced the tie into a decider after racing to 6-1.
Berdych managed to weather the storm in the fifth and struck a definitive blow to break for 3-1 with a forehand winner. After three hours and 27 minutes the Czech player was in the quarter finals of the Australian Open for the sixth consecutive time with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Berdych awaits the winner of Roger Federer and David Goffin in the quarter finals and will need to polish certain aspects of his game, such as his break point conversion, which was a staggeringly low 4/22.
“It was a tough fight. It always is with Roberto. I’m pleased with the way I handled the match, I was playing well tactically, with the right game plan”, said Berdych in the post-match press conference. “I’m just going to stick with the things I’m doing right now. It’s been a great start of the season, and so far the first week has been good as well. I just have to believe in myself and I’m strong enough and competitive enough to beat those guys“, added the Czech about the potential meeting with Federer in the quarter finals.
