Seventh seed Tomas Berdych has sent Australian hopeful Bernard Tomic packing from Wimbledon, winning 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 in the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament.
Tomic, the last Australian left at Wimbledon, fell short of booking a quarter-finals appearance with Novak Djokovic, also missing out on a chance to make a second appearance in the world’s top 30.
Berdych showed some of the form that took the Czech giant to the Wimbledon final back in 2011, displaying enough grit to put Tomic down in two strong final sets and completing the match in just under three hours as the many in attendance rewarded both players with a standing ovation.
Tomic suffered a fatal lapse in the first set tiebreaker and dropped a 4-3 lead. He went on to build a 6-3 lead in the second set tiebreaker, enough to even the contest at a set each. The pair traded breaks in the third set before the Czech won a vital seventh game and eventually the set while his strong hitting appeared to wear down the 20-year-old Aussie towards the end of the fourth and deciding set.
Big Talking Tomic Confident Ahead Of Wimbledon Showdown
“It feel great (to win), especially after a match like this,” Berdych said.
“Bernard is a great player and he’s using all the skill you can possibly use on grass.
“That’s why it’s so tough to play him and that makes me feel even better to be here as the winner.”
Berdych led the vital categories- 24 aces to Tomic’s 19, 68 winners to 43- yet despite committing more unforced errors, it was a match the seventh seed could have just as easily lost.
“Maybe if I managed to win that first set it could have been different,” Tomic reflected post-match. “I had chances in the third set, but I started to slip away.
“I was feeling a little bit tired out there. Tomas hitting the ball very big and low, so you have to be on your feet the whole time.
“I think, you know, I probably wasn’t the right physical shape where I should have been maybe in the fourth set.
“I was a little bit tired. But that comes from playing three tough matches here at Wimbledon. You know, Tomas played very good. There was nothing I could do in the end.”
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Julian Finney, Getty Images.
