Tomáš Berdych

Infobox Tennis player


playername= Tomáš Berdych
nickname=
country= CZE
residence= Monte Carlo, Monaco
datebirth= birth date and age|1985|9|17
placebirth= Valašské Meziříčí, Czechoslovakia
height= height|m=1.95
weight= convert|90|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro= 2002
plays= Right-handed; two-handed backhand
grip=
careerprizemoney= $4,228,503
singlesrecord= 178–113
singlestitles= 4
highestsinglesranking= No. 9 (August 20, 2007)
AustralianOpenresult= 4r (2007, 2008)
FrenchOpenresult= 4r (2006)
Wimbledonresult= QF (2007)
USOpenresult= 4r (2004, 2006, 2007)
doublesrecord= 46–65
doublestitles= 1
highestdoublesranking= No. 54 (April 10, 2006)
updated = October 6, 2008

Tomáš Berdych (pronounced|ˈtomaːʃ ˈbɛrdɪx; born September 17, 1985, in Valašské Meziříčí) is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He turned professional in 2002.

Career

At the 2005 Paris Masters he won his first career ATP Masters Series title. En route to the final, he beat Jiri Novak, 2nd seed Guillermo Coria, 13th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7th seed Gaston Gaudio, 8th seed Radek Stepanek, and 6th seed Ivan Ljubicic.

Other notable highlights of his 2005 season included upsetting No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters, reaching the final of the Swedish Open, and the semifinals in Washington D.C.

In 2006, he reached his first grass court final at the Gerry Weber Open, falling to World No. 1 Roger Federer (0–6, 7–6, 2–6). Another highlight of his year was his victory over Rafael Nadal at the Canada Masters, beating the World No. 2 6–1, 3–6, 6–2.

In October, Berdych reached his second ATP final of 2006 in Mumbai. However, he was beaten by Dmitry Tursunov 6–3 4–6 7–6(5). In the ATP Masters Series tournament in Madrid, Berdych upset former World No.1 Andy Roddick 7–6(7) 6–3 to reach the quarter finals. He then defeated Rafael Nadal 6–3 7–6(6) to reach the semi finals.

Berdych has been disliked by Spanish fans for his altercation with Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal in Madrid, in which the partisan crowd jeered Berdych during points and Berdych for hushing the crowd after he won the match 6–3, 7–6. As the players shook hands at the end, Nadal clearly showed his disapproval by shaking his head, and saying, "that was very bad.... very bad." Berdych never found his rhythm in his semi final match against Fernando González as he slumped to a 6–3, 6–1 defeat.

Berdych failed to defend his Paris Masters title after he lost to Dominik Hrbatý 6–4 1–6 6–2 in the quarter finals. In earlier rounds, Tomas defeated Olivier Rochus 6–7 6–4 6–2 and Robby Ginepri 6–3 6–3.

After a slump during the first quarter of 2007, Berdych found his form on clay as he reached the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters event, his best ever result at the event (and his first time past round 2), defeating Nicolas Almagro, Benjamin Becker, 5th seed Tommy Robredo, and Robin Soderling, before losing to 2nd seed Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, he made his best performance at a Grand Slam, making it to the quarterfinals, defeating Nicolas Massu, Michael Llodra, Hyung-Taik Lee, and #19 seed (35th-ranked) Jonas Bjorkman before losing to Nadal again.

In the Canadian Masters event, his first tournament since Wimbledon, as the #10 seed and as defending quarterfinalist, he lost in round 1 to Robin Haase, who was making his Canadian debut. The following week in Cincinnati, as the #10 seed, he made round 3 before losing to Nikolay Davydenko, after which he rose to a new career high of #9.

Berdych is the first player to have defeated both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since they reached their current positions at #1 and #2 respectively in the ATP world rankings. On August 12, 2007, after beating Federer, Novak Đoković became the second one and David Nalbandian, after beating Nadal (and Federer again) became the third to do so at the 2007 Madrid Masters.

Berdych began 2008 by competing in the Hopman Cup, but his event was marred by a stomach virus. Entering the Australian Open as the number 13 seed, he reached the fourth round, where he fell to Roger Federer 4–6, 6–7, 3–6. In March Berdych contested the Pacific Life Open as the number 10 seed, falling in the first round to Stanislas Wawrinka 6–2, 6–7, 4–6.

He is currently dating Lucie Šafářová, a professional Czech Republic tennis player. He is a fan of U2.

ATP Masters Series singles final

Win (1)

ingles runner-ups (4)

*2005: Båstad (lost to flagicon|ESP Rafael Nadal) 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
*2006: Halle (lost to flagicon|SUI Roger Federer) 6–0, 6–7(4), 6–2
*2006: Mumbai (lost to flagicon|RUS Dmitry Tursunov) 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(5)
*2008: Bastad (lost to flagicon|ESP Tommy Robredo) 6–4, 6–1

Doubles titles (1)

ingles performance timeline

"To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 Roland Garros tournament, which Berdych exited on June 8, 2008."A = did not participate in the tournament.
LQ = lost in qualifying draw.

External links

* [http://www.tomas-berdych.com Website about Tomáš Berdych]
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* [http://steveghelper.com/MatchResults.php?players=Berdych&weeks=12 Berdych Recent Match Results]
* [http://steveghelper.com/RankingHistory.php?player=Berdych Berdych World Ranking History]