The world number one set the tone when he opened the third successive defence of his ATP World Tour Finals title with an embarrassingly one-sided dismissal of Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-1 in 65 minutes on Sunday afternoon, dropping just a game in each set against the only player to take a set off him in the tournament a year ago.
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Both players lost their Finals group stage opener – Nishikori to Novak Djokovic and Berdych to Roger Federer, meaning a second defeat for either player would leave their semi-finals hopes hanging by a thread.
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The world No 6 and the world No 8 are in the Stan Smith group alongside Djokovic and Federer.
The O2 Arena paused for a minute’s silence prior to the match to remember the victims of the Paris attacks on Friday, the court bathed in red, white and blue.
Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych plays a return to Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their ATP World Tour Finals tennis match at the O2 Arena in London, Tuesday November 17, 2015.
Pliskova then tied the final after cruising to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as the Czech’s service game and punishing forehand were too much for the Russian to handle.
“I lost one, and now I just need to refocus and get better for my next match, then just keep doing the same thing back and forth”. “The third set was really close”. He’s certainly unbelievably solid, consistent and versatile, a formula which has seen him win five of seven matches against Federer this season (although their overall head-to-head is poised at 21-21).
Most of the interest in that group will focus on former Wimbledon champion Murray, who has made it clear his priority is Great Britain’s attempt to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936.
“I think I played well”.
The world number four insisted he had been trying but said: “I t’s a really bad match. I made a lot of unforced errors and just handed him the win in the second set”, added the 28-year-old who managed to win only a quarter of points on his first serve in the second set.
The Serb did go on to win the match in three sets, but as he sat on his chair after losing that second set, he struggled to take a sip off his bottle because his hands, usually the steadiest pair in the business, were shaking violently.
“Next match is against Novak”.
“Reflecting back on those memories of course gives me more confidence, more comfort coming into every single match”.
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Home fans were given a few early excitement when Jamie Murray, older brother of Andy, marked his debut at the tournament when he and Australian partner John Peers beat Italian duo Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli in a thriller.
