This is one of the rare situations where a top-ten player, like Tomas Berdych, might have preferred to play an in-form Murray rather than Janko Tipsarevic. Until Paris, Berdych had never beaten Tipsarevic in four tries. Even the meeting at Paris, which had huge implications for everyone on the bubble of getting into London (Tsonga, Berdych, and Fish), Tipsarevic had a 5-1 double-break lead. Berdych managed to come back in that set, then overcome a break in the second set, to finally beat the one player that gives him trouble.
Tipsarevic finished the year in 9th place so he was designated as the alternate, which means he was required to show up to London and wait to see if he would play. With Murray having an injury prior to London, he might have caught wind that he had a good chances of playing. When Murray dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, it was Tipsarevic taking his place. Because Murray had an 0-1 record and so did Berdych, they were scheduled to play each other in the second round of the round-robin, except this time, Tipsarevic would play.
One reason Tipsarevic gives Berdych so much trouble is the way he plays. Yes, Tipsarevic is a baseliner, but he’s a smart baseliner whose backhand is the anchor to his game. He may be the next David Ferrer. In particular, Tipsarevic knows Berdych likes angles and he can create a lot of those angles. Tipsarevic therefore plays shallow backhand angles against Berdych forcing Berdych to play lots of backhands where he can’t take advantage.
It didn’t help Berdych’s cause that he was serving so poorly, closer to 30% than 50%. This allowed Tipsarevic to get out to another 5-1 double break lead. This time, Berdych wasn’t able to come back and win the set. Tipsarevic held and took the first set, 6-2. By the second set, Berdych was serving a bit better and Tipsarevic didn’t look quite as dominating. Berdych’s flat style can break down under pressure where he nets the ball or sprays it wide. Unlike Federer, Berdych doesn’t hit with a lot of topspin, but he plays about as aggressive as Federer.
Throughout the match, Berdych found it challenging to set up inside-out forehands, mostly because Tipsarevic would pepper the Berdych backhand. Tipsarevic is also more likely to switch directions where he hits, going down the line, then crosscourt. He has an exceptional down-the-line backhand that helps him pull the trigger when the opportunity arises.
Berdych managed a break late in the second set and held on to win the second set, 6-3. In the third set, both men held serve. Berdych had been struggling to hold serve, but was doing a better job holding. Indeed, both players were doing a good job of holding serve with only one break point the entire set.
The third set finally went to a tiebreak, the second consecutive third set tiebreak for Berdych. Berdych fell back one mini-break to Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic then got up 6-5 in the tiebreak with a chance to serve out the match. Tipsarevic got a decent serve in and decided to close into the net. Berdych sliced a passing shot up the middle which Tipsarevic volleyed wide. Tipsarevic then missed his first serve and gunned a second, double-faulting to 7-6 Berdych. Berdych hit a decent serve out wide. Tipsarevic returned crosscourt and then tripped. Tipsarevic tried to get up twice, but Berdych merely hit the shot up-the-line and won 8-6 in the tiebreak.
Tipsarevic had to limp off the court. It might be iffy whether he plays Friday, though it might be something that just takes icing. He would take on his countryman, Novak Djokovic, who appears on his way to losing his fifth match of the year to David Ferrer.
Final score: 26, 63, 76
Berdych is now 1-1 and will play David Ferrer on Friday.