NEW YORK—“I think there’s something in my game that he doesn’t like.” So said Tomas Berdych Wednesday after upsetting Roger Federer, 7-6(1), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. There was a lot for Federer not to like on this evening. Berdych hit 14 aces and 30 winners, but somehow it felt like many more. Other than losing his opening service game, and feeling a constriction of the neck long enough to give away a lead in the third set, the big Czech was on his game and shooting lasers. What Federer didn’t like the most were the flat forehands, and deep returns, that Berdych kept belting through the court.
Berdych said his flat pace, if he’s hitting well, can take Federer “out of his comfort zone.” And there was no doubt who was the more comfortable, and better, player tonight. Federer was off from the start; he sprayed regulation forehands long and into the alleys all evening. By the start of the second set, he had already committed 20 unforced errors, and he finished the match with 40. But Federer wouldn’t chalk up the loss to Berdych’s power alone.
“I’m sure it was a combination of many things,” he said. “He probably created more [chances] than I did, and that’s why he ended up winning tonight. The power is not really an issue here. I don’t think that was the problem. The problem was elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere,” according to Federer, didn’t include rust due to the walkover he received in the fourth round from Mardy Fish. Asked if the time off affected his forehand, Federer said, “I have been there before. Once I had six and a half days off and I ended up winning Wimbledon. I don’t think that was the issue tonight.”
The thing that appeared to frustrate Federer the most was losing the first set in a tiebreaker after being up an early break. The biggest issue, though, was obviously Berdych’s play. He said that everything had fallen into place on this night, and that he had been waiting for Federer’s comeback and his own dip in play. He weathered both, as well as his nerves, in the third set, and pounced at the right time in the fourth. At 4-3, he broke Federer with a rocket forehand crosscourt and served it out with two aces and a service winner. The crowd, which had backed Federer, was left stunned by the sudden finale.
From close to the court, this was an amazing exhibition of modern men’s tennis—the power was palpable down there, and there was an edge between the players that raised the tension as the evening progressed. Federer’s answer to Berdych’s pace was to generate more of his own, and he did eventually find something resembling his rhythm. By the fourth set, the two were trading blitzed winners with each rally. A crosscourt backhand pass by Federer sent Berdych skidding across the court. When Berdych tried his own crosscourt pass only to see Federer stab it for a drop volley winner, he turned his racquet around and started strumming the strings like a guitar.
“You know,” Berdych said. “I have to laugh. There is nothing else to do.”
Federer said he was “disappointed,” and the loss a “setback,” because he felt like he had been playing well coming in. He looked gutted by the defeat; his run of fine play and return to No. 1 must have left him with much higher expectations than a quarterfinal exit to a player he had beaten 11 times in 15 matches. Federer said that he would have to re-evaluate his priorities for the rest of the season.
But Berdych would have been hard for anyone, even a better Federer, to stop tonight. He has been in a slump since Wimbledon, and he was asked how he had gotten himself ready to play at this level.
“What other kind of motivation can I have?” Berdych asked, a little increduously. “You know, I play against Roger, one of the greatest players in the world. I play my first night session match. I mean, there’s a thousand reasons of motivation.”
Berdych didn’t just respond well; he seemed to draw energy from the atmosphere. The New York night crowd gave him something, something even he didn’t expect. As he said, everything felt right. When Federer’s last return floated tamely into the net, Berdych was a picture of relief. He couldn’t stop smiling.
Asked what it meant to him, Berdych didn’t hesitate, “There is no better moment than this one so far."