When Tennis Becomes Personal (Nadal vs Berdych) | 4K

The young man of great promise from the Czech Republic against the national hero and defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain Thomas heads or tails? Heads is good Oops, yep heads your choice Okay Czech is the first. In 2002 he turned pro. He's won two singles titles. Last year famously 20 year old Rafael Nadal has been setting records all his young life Since turning pro in 2001. He's won 17 singles titles and when I tell you that 11 of those were last year Tells you what a formidable competitor he has become Just getting a glimpse of Raul Berdych Trying to outmaneuver Berdych. Doesn't move particularly well from the back of the court That's when he'll serve and volley I think a little bit once he opens up the court with the serve Very good. They don't come back There was no challenge, I wonder whether he would challenge it. It looked quite a nice shot and he hit it I think it's an excellent point you make He is very very confident in his own ability Winning is a habit isn't it. Karl would be now a little shocked With how sweetly Berdych has timed the ball He is confident isn't he? And he loves to use the lines Didn't do enough with the little bunt up the line Berdych and paid the price. Nadal does love a target And he can hit with so much spin, but a passing shot like this is still a relatively high percentage Too good, not too good Called by Ampah Laiyane Empires have had to work hard because of that and the players will have been thankful But Nadal is delighted, but Berdych should have made it He anticipated well. Nadal perhaps with the backhand volley should have gone a little shorter That would have meant that the point would have been won outright There goes the set And I think the scoreline correctly describing what we have witnessed. Berdych Superior on serve Going for broke on these ground strokes without error. That's been the wonderful thing as far as he's concerned. 6-3 in 36 minutes See, that's why you hate playing players of this ability. You've got no control over it Boost the confidence a bit. A fourth ace It was respectively deep that called Nadal's. That was a bad shot. So unexpected, that's why Again, unplayable And that's why The determination is there Remains to be seen whether the skill of Berdych could be quelled. So far he has served Very very well. On serve, Nadal 3-2 That is marvellous tennis, it really is Because that was a big point. He was under a lot of pressure At last, they're thinking, sitting around this arena, at last a break point Correct. The rules say the game will be played at the pace of the server What a seduce There's a brilliant little drop shot Because it's a dangerous play going cross-court with the approach shots in the Nadal forehand We know the Spaniard loves to hit the ball on the run So very adept at Not intimidated by either the crowd Or an improving opponent. No, that was brilliant because he was under pressure there at 30-40 And I have to say we've got to give full marks to the umpire there It was the first time Nadal had tried to slow Berdych up and the umpire has to protect both players Very importantly he did there and the message was very quickly sent to Nadal One of the few times in the match that Nadal has been able to go up the line and hit a winning shot with the forehand More often than not it's been Berdych who's been able to implement those kind of tactics That was a perfect shot Well, the crowd erupts At the end of another exciting game of ground stroke rivalry and Nadal forging ahead 4-3 Well, that's so good closing in firm volley short angle a Lot of people make the mistake when trying to put the ball away and going deep cross-court and that allows the opposition That's lovely hitting pure hitting Reminds me of the great Swedish player Lennart Berdych For once Nadal able to turn defense into attack He did well initially to get the serve back in play because it was a good one from Berdych Well, sometimes when you serve a double fault The crowd erupts as they did then it can unnerve you There's going to be a challenge We're going to see a challenge I thought it just curled in that shot and it did listen to the explosion in the crowd The great serve Not that fast 163 Curling Mr. Berdych out of reach and nose of steel Well, I have to say I'm afraid one of the reasons why he served the double fault was that the ball go Dangerly prancing across the net. It's a bit slow and picking it up Interrupt his rhythm That's just too good It was powerful, but it was a lot of slice Well, this is a phenomenal performance really in the circumstances of where we are and who he's playing But the pace beats a good deep serve from Rafa whose determination is as high as ever He doesn't want to disappoint this strong But he's got a lot of work to do still he may be five four ahead But he's still got a terrific fight on his hands He just takes the ball so early and can do it with consummate ease. A lot of players would have difficulty For once there wasn't enough on the approach Generally speaking Berdych has done exceptionally well in opening up the court before he's come into the net Correction most good Well, he can't cope with this at the moment the birdie serve and to be interesting now to see what effect it has on his own delivery because He's mighty near to losing this match So still on serve and it's Nadal Well, I think that answers my query it certainly wasn't a joke Because it was a good serve and a really powerful blow from the back again So no nerve factor there and the tiebreak will decide The dolls had a good year for tiebreaks. He's won 19 of the 29 he's played And he's missed Well, can you believe it he's made so many difficult shots and it really matters That was a terrific hustle from the doll and just lost his bearings a little bit Yes, what he's talking about that lob and of course probably what he's saying is it was so short It would have been wise to let it bounce Would have been a very easy kill then but you're right. He was a bit disorientated not quite sure where in the court. He was standing Gasps of dismay from the crowd Uncharacteristic error puts verdicts back in the fight in this tiebreak He's used it so well a slice on it Majestic Certainly anxiety was to be seen in that missed for Well, we've seen him do it so often Refusing to buckle clinging on by his fingernails Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Whereas the first and second four hands he has They see well, I don't think he'll succeed I may be wrong But he's challenging it So we'll have to wait for a moment No, well, then. Oh There it is the killer blow. I think a very good Terrific anticipation from Burdick and a phenomenal winner greeted with stony silence and disbelief It's all over Well a terrific performance the defending champion beaten on home soil Well a little bit antagonism there between the two Singling to his supporters in the crowd Thanks for their support and joy at winning and 47 minutes it took And the score six three Seven six the tiebreak eight points to six and the defending champion is out And Burdick through to the semifinals It's a shame that Burdick is being booed as he walks off the court because it was a terrific Performance by him this evening. He won't mind. No, you always have the last laugh if you managed to win