Nadal then seemed to make a crucial break in the 11th game to go 6-5 in front, but he could not serve out the opener as Ferrer saved a set point before forcing a tie-break.
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Three teams from Group Fleming/McEnroe are alive for final spot in the doubles semifinals: No. 3 Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, No. 6 Herbert and Mahut and No. 7 Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic. “I’m going to get ready for that one and hopefully I’ll be able to play at my best”. “There’s points on the line and prestige, wanting to beat Kei, winning at the O2”. I want to do well here.
Djokovic will be colliding with Rafael Nadal on Saturday, while Federer will be facing Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray in the semis.
Either way it figures to be an enticing contest.
Federer has drawn attention not just for his tennis this week – this is the 13th time in 14 appearances he has reached the last four – but also his growing beard.
The Swiss won the first set, which had as many as five service breaks, in fifty minutes.
“He’s playing really well”, Wawrinka said of Federer.
A year ago 10 of the 12 singles matches in the group stage were straight sets, with the loser of 16 of those 20 sets winning three games or fewer. “He’s starting to miss less, serve efficiently, use his forehand much better”. It’s easy for the mind now, in my opinion. He did that and more, ousting the Czech 6-3 7-5 to bounce back from the loss to Federer.
Remarkably, Berdych broke back – this is not the kind of vulnerability we’ve come to expect from Djokovic – after a number of unforced errors from Novak.
“In the third I was trying to hang in and defend”, added Federer. Nishikori responded with a two hander that sailed wide, allowing Federer to take a 3-1 lead.
It was during the sequence that Federer miscued badly on a shot at the net.
When Berdych’s serve was breached again at the start of the second set it appeared that Djokovic would stroll to the semis, but he was briefly stopped in his tracks as a booming forehand earned a break back for his defiant foe.
“Today, for an opponent I had one of the quickest tennis players, but one who has a lot of talent and like to play aggressively”. “Just a couple of points that I didn’t play quite well enough”.
“It is a shame to lose like this (but) I thought I was playing well”.
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Federer, the oldest participant, went 6-for-6 on break points. Berdych was 2-0 down in the second set but managed to turn it around, converting both his break point chances. “Because I’ve won so many times against him, maybe there is this factor of mental edge; maybe an advantage in important moments, decisive moments where I’m able to stick around and stay tough and believe that I can actually win”. Nadal accepts, though, that the prospect of taking on the world No. 1 represents a different challenge entirely.
