Novak Djokovic played his eighth Major semifinal at Wimbledon 2010, facing Tomas Berdych in a battle for the final. The 24-year-old Czech defeated Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and used that momentum against Novak to score a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 triumph in two hours and 18 minutes for the first Major final.
Tomas beat Novak for the first time in three meetings, firing 34 winners and 17 unforced errors to control the pace and seal the deal in straight sets. Talking about the meeting two months later at the US Open, Novak said he played a stupid match, defending most of the time and not taking his chances against a rock-solid opponent who played at a high level.
Berdych earned 22 more points than Djokovic and saved three of four break chances to keep the pressure on the other side. The Serb struggled with the second serve many times that season, committing eight double faults and experiencing three breaks to end his run in the semifinals.
Tomas had 41 service winners and had the advantage in the shorter rallies of up to four shots, dominating his shots very well and winning the crucial points to stay on the title field. Berdych made the first difference with a 3-2 break in the opening set, using a forehand error from Djokovic to carve out the lead after 21 minutes.
Novak held in game eight to extend the set, and was claimed by Tomas with a forehand winner a few minutes later for 6-3 after 33 minutes. Berdych fended off a break point in the fourth game of the second set with a forehand and held after two deuces to keep his serve intact.
Djokovic survived a scare in game five before adding a big mistake at 5-5 to fall behind. Making the wrong move for the first time, Tomas failed to serve for the set after a forehand error on Novak’s third break chance introduced a tiebreaker.
Djokovic fell 6-2 after a double fault and fended off all four set points to add to the drama. Berdych played against set points at 6-7 and 8-9, keeping his cool and converting to sixth set point at 10-9 thanks to Novak’s costly double fault.
Craig Tiley comments on Djokovic
Craig Tiley said he was proud of the Australian tennis supporters who showered Novak Djokovic with love every time he was on the court. “You need to give credit to the Australian sporting public that enjoys the sport.
We are the fairest in the world. When we are observing greatness, we respect it and cheer accordingly. That’s exactly what happened and he was really welcomed back.” he said on the AO podcast. “He went through a tough time last year for a number of different reasons, primarily driven by his own choice.
But he came and once he got settled in Adelaide, South Australia did a magnificent job in welcoming him,” he added.
