Tomas Berdych remains in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals after he battled back to beat Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) on Wednesday. Berdych, who lost his opening game against Novak Djokovic, looked on the way out when Tipsarevic, playing in place of the injured Andy Murray, held a match point in the final set tie-break, but the Czech seventh seed recovered to seal a crucial Group A victory at London’s O2 Arena. Now Berdych has to beat David Ferrer in his last match on Friday and hope other results go his way to reach the semis, while Tipsarevic’s participation is likely to end with his final fixture against Djokovic.
With nothing to lose and a place in the semi-finals still up for grabs, Tipsarevic was able to swing freely at the start and his ground-strokes caused Berdych problems as he broke in the opening game of the first set.
He broke again for a 4-1 lead before saving three break points on his own serve to seal the set. But 2010 Wimbledon finalist Berdych had given world number one Djokovic a run for his money on Sunday, holding a match point before eventually losing a final set tie-break, and the Czech gradually built up a head of steam again.
The 26-year-old’s big serves kept Tipsarevic at bay and allowed him to concentrate on breaking the Serb, which he eventually did with some bruising forehands in the eighth game to land the decisive break in the second set.
Classy Federer routs Nadal to make last four: Roger Federer crushed old rival Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-0 as the defending champion swept into the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday. Federer went into the match knowing victory would guarantee his place in the last four after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Mardy Fish in the earlier Group B match. The Swiss star seized the opportunity with a brutal demolition of the world number two in just one hour on court at London’s O2 Arena. The 30-year-old hadn’t beaten Nadal since they met in the final of the ATP’s season finale here last year, but he produced his most emphatic ever win against the Spaniard to ended a run of three successive head to head defeats. While Federer can relax in his final group game against Fish, there is no margin for error for Nadal, who needs to neat Tsonga on Thursday to make the last four.
