Berdych Charges Into Dubai Semi-finals

© Dubai Duty Free Tennis ChampionshipsTomas Berdych also reached the Chennai semi-finals last month.

Petzschner falls short despite valiant effort

Tomas Berdych was the first player to reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday when he overcame Philipp Petzschner 7-5 6-4.

All three of their previous matches had gone to three sets, and Petzschner had won their last meeting, in Munich last year. But that was on clay, and Berdych had come on top in their previous two matches on hard court.

But he had to fight hard for his victory, with the first set stretching to over an hour and the entire match taking a challenging one hour 47 minutes.

Both players dropped their opening service games to love and four of the first five games went against serve. Petzschner then fought off four set points at 5-4 with some ferocious serving, and he then held three break points of his own at 5-5 to serve for the set.

But it was the number three seed’s turn to stave off the threat, eventually holding with an ace and then breaking in the next game on his seventh set point when his return forced a backhand error.

After Berdych beat off two break points in the opening game of the second set both players held serve with ease, until another Berdych return forced Petzschner to net a volley to set up match point. Petzschner then netted a forehand on the next point.

"He just go for the shots, and he seems to me like that he doesn't not much care in this situation like what to play, you know, some strategy or something," said Berdych of his trouble in closing out the first set. "You know, he just went there and he just go, you know, bang, something's going to happen.

"If he makes the winner, of course, yeah, he makes the winner, and what you can do with that? So I'm happy that I took, even though it was the seventh set point. But it was, and it happens. We don't have to be on court anymore now and I can go rest!"

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, continues until February 26th with players including Australian Open and reigning Dubai champion Novak Djokovic and four-time Dubai winner Roger Federer.