Nadal defeats Berdych in final

Tomáš Berdych's stunning run at the Wimbledon championships ended in the finals against Spain's Rafael Nadal July 4. After two hours and 13 minutes of play, Nadal whipped a forehand past Berdych on match point and fell to his back on the baseline. The match was over.

The Spanish world No. 1 halted the Czech dark horse who had, en route to the finals, upset six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer of Switzerland and world No. 3 Novak Djoković of Serbia.

"Right now, it's really tough, you know. After winning the matches against those guys before, it's hard to see something different in my first Grand Slam final," Berdych said.

The 24-year-old Berdych became after Jaroslav Drobný, Jan Kodeš and Ivan Lendl only the fourth Czech player in history to reach the Wimbledon final. In the end, he was unable to extend the list of Czech champions, which came to a halt with Kodeš' triumph in 1973. Lendl, among the country's tennis legends, never won Wimbledon.

Berdych hit 27 winners in the match against only 17 unforced errors. Still, Nadal was firmly in control. Berdych knew his only chance was to takes risks, but with a capricious wind whipping up the dust on the heavily-worn Centre Court, he seemed to lack trust in his biggest weapons, and it was Nadal who was the aggressor.

Nadal capitalized on four out of his six break points in the game, while Berdych was unable to convert any of his four break opportunities.

"I think the biggest difference between us was that, when he got a chance, he just took it," Berdych said.

In the end, the 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 final score looked closer than the actual happenings on the court. After forcing Federer to a seismic defeat, Berdych could not initiate another earthquake against Nadal.

Berdych admitted he hadn't entered the Wimbledon final with a specific strategy.

"It's tough to say that I didn't have any strategy. Nadal does not have any real weakness. You just try to play your best tennis," Berdych said. "My strategy was just to concentrate on myself, to start well and to wait for any little chances."

After reaching the semifinal of the French Open and now going one step further at Wimbledon, Berdych has risen to No. 8 in the world ranking and must be considered a genuine threat to win Grand Slams. He specifically declined to label his unexpected run to the Wimbledon final as a dream, insisting, "What is happening is not a miracle. You need to do something to bring these good results - really hard work."

In which case, he must apply himself with even more dedication if he wants to bridge the gulf between making a Grand Slam final and winning it. But Berdych insists that Grand Slam victory is achievable.

"It's about experience, and I hope I'll be able to capitalize on the experience I got at Wimbledon this year. I quickly learned in Paris what I had to do in order to advance from semifinals to the final at a Grand Slam. ... If I proceed the same way this time, that would be great," Berdych said.

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com