Djokovic v Berdych: can Tomas buck the trend at Wimbledon?

Novak Djokovic will face Tomas Berdych in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday on No.1 Court.

Djokovic holds a jaw-dropping 25-2 lead in the pair’s head-to-head.

The Serb has won his past 12 matches against the powerful Czech, who last beat Djokovic in Rome in 2013. The only other time he beat Djokovic was right here at Wimbledon – seven years ago.

Berdych is often grouped in with other non-Big Four members like Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the “next best” players in the game. But none of them have struggled against Djokovic quite like he has.

Berdych may take hope from the fact that Djokovic struggled with a shoulder complaint in his fourth-round win over Adrian Mannarino. Also in his favour is the fact Djokovic has been openly critical of the Wimbledon playing surface and the scheduling, which saw Djokovic’s match against Mannarino held over until Tuesday.

With an extra day of rest up his sleeve against a physically ailing, irritable opponent, is this the time Berdych scores a rare win against the three-time Wimbledon champion?

Tennismash spoke to four prominent members of the tennis media to get their views ahead of this quarterfinal battle.

Tom Perrotta – Wall Street Journal

“It’s really the perfect match-up for Djokovic. He can do everything that Berdych can do but he’s a little more consistent, and he’s just faster. And he can take advantage of making Berdych move and stretch to spots he doesn’t really want to be. That’s basically what happens. And his power doesn’t really bother Djokovic at all. I just think it’s one of those match-ups that sometimes it just happens you have skills that fit perfectly against the other guy’s skills. Djokovic is like the same as Berdych in some ways, but a little better at everything, and faster – a lot faster.

“I think guys (like Tsonga and del Potro) have a little more flash. Berydch, he’s a big hitter, but it’s more of like a steady size, whereas those other guys on certain days can be really explosive, it’s absurd. You can’t even get into points, and it breaks Djokovic’s rhythm. He plays in good rhythm, Berdych. But the rhythm is wonderful for Djokovic, and then he’s off and going. He feels very comfortable.

“The thing that might give Berdych the chance is Djokovic’s right shoulder – that was a little bit disconcerting at the end of that match (against Mannarino). It did not look good. Maybe he’s better – I’m sure he done some stretching and exercises and everything he can do in the last couple days but if his serve is off, he’s in trouble against almost anyone, because that’s not a good thing to have at Wimbledon.”

Reem Abulleil – managing editor at Sport360.com

“If you look at Berdych’s strengths, they’re supposed to be the serve and forehand … and those are two things Novak counters very well in general. First of all he’s a great returner. And secondly he’s really good at changing direction, so even if Berdych tries to get into these forehand-to-forehand battles with him, Novak changes the direction really well and has such a strong backhand that he can really damage Berdych with. Also Berdych doesn’t have that much variety. He’s someone who can actually go to the net if he wants, but he never does – he’s just stuck at the back. And I think there’s no way he can win those baseline battles with Novak, even though he pushes him sometimes.

“But for me the biggest problem is mental – Berdych has this thing where he can struggle against the same person over and over again. And Djokovic kind of knows that he owns him. With Berdych, he needs to literally throw the kitchen sink at him and think of something different to do. Because I’ve never seen seen him change his tactics much against Djokovic.

“I think that the angrier Novak gets, the better he plays. The more he feels that things are against him (such as surface and scheduling), the way he is psychologically as a person, this is when he hits back. So I feel that’s not going to be a factor (advantageous for Berdych). Physically for sure there’s a question mark – now we understand there is a shoulder niggle and he really wanted to play the day before (he did). Now we understand why. It would make a difference for sure, because if he’s not serving well, maybe he would struggle to break Tomas.

“But I still think that we’ve seen Tomas make this stage before at Slams … even when he did have the breakthrough and beat Rafa in Australia (in 2015), nothing happened after that. So no, I still think Novak’s gonna win.”

Nick McCarvel – reporter, The Wimbledon Channel

“I just think that his game feeds into Djokovic’s game. Every offensive weapon Berdych possesses, Djokovic is able to counter so well his movement and neutralise him. And given Djokovic has now won 12 matches in a row against Berdych, now it’s become a bit of a mental thing – oh crap, I haven’t been able to do this in the past (laughter). That’s kind of been Berdych’s Achilles heel his whole career, right? It’s that he’s had this ceiling against the top guys.

“I don’t know if that’s mental, or his game … but Djokovic in particular has taken advantage of that. For whatever reason Djokovic has just been able to get into his head and he just hasn’t been able to overcoming him. He has that one victory over Djokovic here in 2010, but I think that was still the era of breathing-issue Djokovic. If you look at that many matches, and it’s kind of the same as Sharapova v Serena – not that they have quite the same rivalry – but it’s the same mental aspect, once again not being able to overcome an opponent who’s obviously better. But it shouldn’t be 25-2, in terms of talent.

“He spent more than three hours more than Djokovic on court – so I think that plays in his disadvantage, he won in five sets in the last round against Thiem. Djokovic had that first-round retirement, only lost five games to Pavlasek (in round two). To me, I just look at history and see that 25-2 head-to-head. Is there a window of opportunity for Berdych? Yes. I guess he’d have to prove me wrong today.”

Marta Mateo – freelance tennis reporter

“(Berdych struggles) probably because Nole always gets back another ball. Tomas is so powerful and has those flat shots that usually he finishes the points. He doens’t have someone coming back in every single point. Probably from that mental side, he just gets frustrated and then everything just gets worse and worse.

“Berdych is very consistent, he’s been up there a long time … but then when he gets into those match-ups with those guys of the Big Four, then the logical thing is to lose. Especially against Nole – because of the return. Probably the numbers play in his head. If he’s going on court thinking, OK this guy has beaten me 25 times, even though I beat him here in 2010, it doesn’t mean anything. I think it does play in his mind.

“Today is probably the best day or scenario he could have in order to beat him – for all those reasons, and because he’s playing well. He doesn’t have anything to lose. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. Nole has more things to lose, because he’s building up again his game, his confidence is back, he has so many wins on grass this season, he’s playing well … You never know.”