Tennis News

Tomas Berdych kept his hopes alive – however slim – at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday with a straight sets victory over Marin Cilic.

Following a terrible start to his fifth appearance at the year-end championships, where he lost to Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-1, Berdych rebounded with a sharper showing against another Grand Slam champion in Cilic. The Czech No. 1 defeated his Croatian opponent 6-3, 6-1 in a contest that lasted 75 minutes in total – one of the longest matches of the tournament so far.

“I felt much better on the court,” said Berdych. “But still it was not one of my best. That’s fair to say. But I think that’s the beauty of this event. One day you can be swept out from the court like I did and in two days’ time you can come up and you can play a different tennis.

According to ATPWorldTour.com, Berdych is 5-0 in his second round robin matches in London, as he has never lost that encounter throughout his five appearances at the event. He maintained that streak this year with his win against the reigning US Open champion.

Berdych took advantage of a slow start from Cilic to break for an early lead – one which he would not give up until he won the set 6-3. He would break twice more in the second set, in the fourth and sixth games to hand CIlic another tough loss.

The Czech’s win extends the straight sets streak at the World Tour Finals to seven consecutive matches, as none of the round robin matches played have shown even a spark of competitiveness.

Berdych will next meet world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who recently defeated him 6-0, 6-2 in the final of the China Open.

Bob and Mike Bryan have collected all the notable title in recent memory, and racked up over 100 overall career trophies between them. However, they have not won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals since 2009, and looked to be struggling once again in 2014 after their campaign got off to a less than perfect start.

In their opening match in Group A, the Bryan brothers came up against eighth seeds and Australian Open champions Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt. The young pairing only needed 79 minutes to edge the American duo 7-6(3), 6-3 in the evening session on Monday. It was a surprising result, given that Kubot and Lindstedt only won 18 matches all season, while the Bryans were 60-10 heading into the WTF opener.

However, the top seeds refused to end their season prematurely and rebounded successfully on Wednesday morning to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final berth over the coming days. They rallied from a set down to defeat the pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-6. It marked their fourth straight victory over the Dutch-Romanian doubles team.

The Brothers needed to overcome significant difficulties in the second set, as it appeared that they would be eliminated from the tournament when they were down 1-3 in the second set. However, they recovered with their trademark grit and eventually edged out the victory when they won 10 of the last 12 points in the super tiebreak to the delight of the crowd in attendance.

The Bryans will meet Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares on Friday.

In keeping with the rapid-fire matches that have characterized the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals so far, Roger Federer continued his campaign for a seventh title in London with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kei Nishikori.

The opening set began as a competitive affair but quickly fizzled down to a lopsided one when Federer found the early break to lead 3-1. While Nishikori would avoid the dreaded “breadsticks” that several of his colleagues faced yesterday, he was unable to find his rhythm and was clearly wincing in pain when striking the ball. Federer, who struck 11 winners but also 12 unforced errors, needed only one break of serve to close out the opening set in 35 minutes.

The second set brought about much of the same from both competitors, as Federer once again broke for a 3-1 lead after some poor returning from Nishikori. The Japanese No. 1 was keen not to get disheartened, and while he continued to produce several impressive shots, he was simply unable to find the necessary consistency. This was evident when Nishikori double faulted to hand the Swiss No. 1 the second (and decisive) break in the set.

Moments later, Federer closed out the match on serve in 34 minutes.

Roger will play Andy Murray in his last group match. The Scot defeated Milos Raonic to keep his hopes for the semi-finals alive.

Following a less than stellar start to his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals campaign, Andy Murray kept his hopes for a semi-final berth alive with a straight sets victory over Milos Raonic.

The British No. 1, who is seeded fifth at the event, picked up his first win over the Canadian this season, and did so without even playing his best tennis. Murray exchanged breaks with Raonic early in the second set before the Scot took command of the match to close it out 6-3, 7-5.

“I haven’t served well,” said Raonic. “I’ve been too passive on the court. I’ve been trying to beat the two guys playing their tennis, and that’s not going to work for me.”

Murray’s final round robin match-up will be contested against second seed Roger Federer, who leads the group as the only undefeated player so far. While the one of the four semi-finalist spots will likely go to the Swiss No. 1, Murray can secure the second spot but it is will all depend on his next match and that of Nishikori.

While the majority of the WTA’s Czech players were in Prague celebrating their third Fed Cup title in four years, at least one player was busy winning her own title.

Rising star Tereza Smitkova, who took part in an inspired run to the second week of the Wimbledon Championships, won the biggest title of her professional career to date when she lifted the Open GDF SUEZ de Limoges title.

The tournament marks the final of the five WTA 125K Series events of the season.

The contest was far from a walk in the park; Smitkova needed an hour and 40 minutes to edge out the 7-6(4), 7-5 victory over Kristina Mladenovic. She even won six of the last seven games to work her way out of a 1-4 deficit in the second set.

Smitkova finishes the season with a ranking of NO. 67 and a 42-23 singles record on the tour, which includes two ITF titles.

Earlier in the day, fourth seeds Katerina Siniakova and Renata Voracova rallied from a set down to beat top seeds Mladenovic and Timea Babos 2-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the doubles final.

The theme of the day at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals was certainly ‘breadsticks,’ as world No. 1 Novak Djokovic added to the already rapid day of tennis with his 56-minute demolition of Marin Cilic in Monday’s evening session.

Coming off a successful title defense at the Paris Bercy, Djokovic found his form early in the match, and maintained command en route to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the reigning US Open champion. It was an impeccable showing from the Serb, and a disastrous display from the Croat.

While all their previous matches this season went to deciding sets, including a five-set marathon at Wimbledon, Djokovic took advantage of Cilic’s poor serving and timid shot making to pressure the Croat and force him around the court in awkward angles. The win advances his undefeated record against Cilic to 11-0.

“I felt that Novak played really, really solid today,” said Cilic. “I felt a little bit uncomfortable on the court, rusty… I felt that I was not hitting it clean. That’s always difficult, especially against Novak, to get away with a win when you’re not playing so good.”

In arguably one of his best performances of the season, Stan Wawrinka crushed Tomas Berdych in straight sets to edge closer to the semi-final round of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Wawrinka, who won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this season, needed only 58 minutes to dispatch the Czech No. 1 6-1, 6-1. According to ATPWorldTour.com, it was the fewest number of games he has lost against a Top 10 opponent all season.

“I didn’t expect to win that easy,” said Wawrinka. “But I was ready to play well. I had a great week of preparation. Even if the result wasn’t there in Basel and Paris, I was feeling the ball really well on the practice court.

“When I feel good on the court, I’m ready to beat everybody. It’s never easy, but you have to fight for it.”

Berdych, however, was well aware that he lacked the necessary form on Monday, but hopes to improve as the tournament continues.

“Unfortunately, it was my worst match of the whole season and I kept it for the start here,” said Berdych. “Today, I didn’t really feel anything right. I can just keep fighting and try to play good tennis.”