Tomas Berdych, a Czech player, officially turned professional in 2003. He is 196 centimeters and 91 kilograms. As of 2014, his career-high ranking has reached fifth.
So, when people mention Berdych, what is the first impression that comes to mind?
Is it because the pronunciation of his last name is close to "bird", so he is nicknamed "Brother Bird"? Or is it the handsome appearance and the stunning supermodel girlfriend?
The first members of the "Big Four" Loser Club? Or face Nadal's tragic 18th consecutive defeat?
Since breaking into the top ten in the world for the first time in 2010, Berdych has never fallen out of the top ten. His stable and outstanding performance coupled with his idol-like appearance have also won Berdych a lot of popularity. .
Berdych has always been a "good boy" on tour, both in real life and on the court.
He has a gentle personality and rarely gets angry; his technical moves are very strict and are basically copied and pasted from textbooks. For coaches, all his moves can be used as templates for teaching; his playing style is also regular. Be disciplined and complete every shot conscientiously.
However, precisely because of this, he lacked a little "spark of inspiration", and his performance on the field was never able to break the constraints and was slightly tepid.
Berdych, who was born in 1985, coincided with the peak of Federer and Nadal, so for a long time, he was the background behind the giants——
Facing other players, Berdych was always able to win solidly and brilliantly, with few upsets; but against the Big Four, he was always helpless.
So much so that when fans mention him, they always bring a trace of pity, a trace of sympathy, and a little bit of dumbfounding. This seems to be a supplement to his "good boy" image.
but it is not the truth.
In the opinion of industry insiders, Berdych is one of the few players who "has never won a Grand Slam but is definitely among the best."
Looking carefully at Berdych's career resume, there are many amazing records.
First of all, Berdych's career game prize money ranks tenth among all male players in the entire history.
Secondly, Berdych is the second player outside the "Big Four" after Nalbandian to beat Federer more than once in a Grand Slam.
Once again, Berdych is the third player after Tsonga and Wawrinka to successfully defeat the "Big Four" in the Masters or Grand Slam.
In 2005, Berdych was upset all the way to the Paris Masters as an unseeded player, but this was not the masterpiece of his career.
In 2010, at Wimbledon, Berdych defeated the then world number one Federer and the then world number three Djokovic, reaching the Grand Slam final in his career, and then faced the then world number two in the final. Nadal, unfortunately lost in straight sets.
At the beginning of this year, Berdych reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, making him one of the few players in the "Big Four Era" who could reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams.
From Ferrer to Berdych to Wawrinka, all these players have personally experienced the peak of the "Big Four Era", and they are basically the strongest players outside the Big Four, but they have never been able to break through, until this year At the Australian Open, Wawrinka advanced to the final after defeating Berdych in the semi-finals, and finally broke out of his cocoon.
Time is also fate.
Therefore, when fans mention these players, they inevitably feel a little more compassionate.
In fact, later on, fans' memories of Berdych seemed to remain on the incredible losing streak against the Big Four. Against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Berdych lost more than two games. Ten, and the number of defeats against Murray also exceeded ten. He was one of the earliest members of the "Big Four Ten Loss Club".
But looking at it from another perspective, Berdych has played against the Big Four so many times, which proves that he has remained at the top for a long time and can defeat other players in every game to get in front of the Big Four. , other players may not be able to encounter the Big Four ten times in their entire career.
Moreover, Berdych's record against the Big Four is even slightly ahead of Wawrinka:
He has won six times with Federer and Murray; four wins with Nadal; and three wins with Djokovic.
And, very importantly, not all of these wins came early in the Big Four's careers. He defeated them all in their prime.
This year, Berdych's performance remained stable, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the quarter-finals of the French Open and the US Open. Only Wimbledon was slightly unsatisfactory, and he was eliminated in the third round.
Therefore, Berdych's world ranking has been stable at fifth, and the same is true above the championship standings; he has been striving to qualify for the year-end finals for the fifth consecutive year, and the overall situation is good, basically as long as no big mistakes are made , you can ensure your shortlisting.
However, 2014 is indeed a magical year, full of uncertainties.
In the sprint stage at the end of the year, Murray continued to exert strength and came from behind. However, after Berdych won the championship in Stockholm, he was upset in the first round of Valencia and lost to his opponent Anduar in the first round of the Gowan Masters. Not only was Murray overtaken him in the championship standings, but the good situation also became chaotic.
Fans also lamented that "Brother Bird" is still the familiar "Brother Bird". He loses his temper at critical moments. It's not that he doesn't have such abilities, but that his character lacks a bit of ruthlessness and decisiveness. Once other players are critical, Always keeping a tight grip on the situation, Berdych is often the first to fluctuate.
Of course, despite this, Berdych is still ranked sixth in the championship standings and leads Ferrer by more than 200 points, which is a clear advantage.
Therefore, as long as Berdych's performance in Paris is not too bad, he can also be determined to be selected for the year-end finals.
After winning the first match and advancing to the third round, Berdych's heart that was clogged in his throat was able to recover a little, but he still couldn't feel completely at ease——
Because the second round of the Paris Masters was uneventful.
The only upset is... Cilic.
Facing Lucas-Pouille, a young French player born in 1994, Cilic wasted two set points in the second set and eventually lost two tie-breaks in a row and was upset.
After giving the best performance of his career at the US Open, Cilic also looked forward to a new stage in his career, but then things went against his expectations. The "Grand Slam syndrome" was very, very serious:
The Imperial City won two games and the Magic City was eliminated in the first round. Although they won four consecutive games in Moscow to win the championship, they were eliminated in the first round of the subsequent games in Valencia and Paris.
In the end, Cilic officially announced that he would miss the year-end finals with two consecutive losses, ending his 2014 season in a very embarrassing manner.
Suspense, one less thing.
But the other competitors all successfully won and advanced, which also means that Berdych still cannot relax. He needs to win as many victories as possible to ensure his place in the finals——
What's more, the third round is a head-to-head confrontation between competitors!
