Despite his laughably lopsided record against Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych always poses a threat to the Swiss. His serve is gigantic enough, and his forehand swing is compactly brutal enough, to defeat any player on a given day. Even if that player has not only defeated Berdych 18 times, but owns just as many Grand Slam singles titles.
Whether Berdych’s threat to Federer is realized is an entirely different story. Coming into their Miami Open quarterfinal match on Thursday, the Czech had beaten Federer just six times in 23 career matches. The last time Berdych got the better of Federer was in 2013; since then, the Swiss won 14 of 15 sets against the Czech. But none of that mattered when Berdych—after stunningly breaking Federer at love while trailing 3-5 in the third set—earned two match points against his longtime nemesis. Berdych has already saved one match point when, at 4-5 in the decider, he let fly a daring second serve that Federer could scarcely get a racquet on.
At 6-4 in the third-set tiebreaker, Berdych had seemingly had completed a 180-degree turn in fortune. He posed an absolutely real threat to Federer. He also, with the triumph within his grasp, posed very real a threat to himself.
“Don’t mess up, hit a few aces, stay aggressive,” Federer told ESPN’s Brad Gilbert after rallying to conclude a tense, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Berdych in Key Biscayne, keeping alive hope that the ATP’s most popular player could win the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami 11 seasons after his last hard-court trifecta.
That was Federer’s self-described mindset in the tiebreaker. He adhered to the strategy, often to his benefit but occasionally to his detriment, the latter at 4-4, when a deep backhand tilted the match in Berdych’s favor. After a clinical opening-set victory by Federer, Berdych raised his level and pushed this match further than almost anyone could have anticipated. When he reached double-match point at 6-4, I wondered, which Federer loss in 2017 was more suprising: the 35-year-old’s shocking collapse to Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai, or his tumble from seemingly safe heights against the star-crossed Berdych in Miami?
Ultimately, I gave Berdych too much credit. Unable to convert either match point of his own, the next match point was Federer’s. Berdych tried to stay aggressive—so much so that he double faulted the match away by a good two feet. Federer had escaped, no doubt, but he applied the necessary pressure so that Berdych would tense up:
