Follow the latest news and scores from Wimbledon 2016 on Wimbledon.com or Apple TV, or download the official IOS or Android apps for smartphone and tablet
Tomas Berdych may have just taken a bit of a pasting at the hands of Andy Murray, he may have had a few testy matches with the Briton in the past, but he was still backing Murray all the way to the title.
Murray’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 semi-final win was swift and it was, for the most partt, efficient and Berdych knew he had been beaten by the better man on the day. It has been that way for the past couple of years – the Czech has now only managed to win one set in five matches – so he knew what was likely to happen as he walked out on to Centre Court. That said, he still felt he had a sniff of a chance to make a match of it in the second set.
“I think there was couple of opportunities,” he said. “Especially in those moments, I was a bit short on that, was not able to execute them. Especially little bit in the second set when I was 3‑2 up, had couple of break points on his serve, I think that was a good chance, as well. But overall, I have to say that he played really well. He was able to, you know, like, defend the game, really play very solid. For him, he just deserves to win today.”
As for who was the favourite to win the title, Berdych could see only one candidate: A. Murray of Dunblane. Now into his 11th Grand Slam final and with two major trophies already in his collection, the Briton was, Berdych thought, the man in the driving seat for the final.
“The fact that probably his biggest rival, Novak, is not in the draw anymore definitely helps for him,” Berdych said. “I think he has all the tools to make it all the way.
“I think it has been been said many times, it's definitely going to be Milos's serve [that is the danger]. But I think Andy is one of the best in eliminating this big weapon of the opponent. So I think he actually likes, you know, to play these big guys, just come up with his creative game, try to break the rhythm of the big guys. So that's why I feel that he can do it.”
As for his own run at Wimbledon, Berdych was pleased. He had made a deeply average start to the season but after firing his coach, Dani Vallverdu, in May, he reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the last four here. Obviously he would have like to have beaten Murray but he does feel as if he has turned his year around.
“Right now, of course, it's a bit of frustration,” he said. “Even the fact I was still far, but it was a semi-final. But I think overall I think it was a good run. I think it was definitely good two weeks which definitely show me that's the way to do it, that's the way to go. That's really positive signs for my second half of the year.”
So Friday’s result was proof positive that Berdych’s year had taken a turn for the better and that Murray was within touching distance of the title. It had not been such a bad day after all.
