CINCINNATI -- No. 8 seed Tomas Berdych retired after losing the first set of his semifinal 7-5 to No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Berdych broke Djokovic in the seventh game of the set, and held to take a 5-3 lead. But after Djokovic held for 5-4, Berdych received a medical timeout, and the end of his tournament did not seem far off.
Berdych had previously received treatment for his shoulder after his quarterfinal win over Roger Federer, so the withdrawal was not a big surprise to anyone, Djokovic included.
Q: How surprised were you by Berdych retiring?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I wasn't [surprised] because I knew. We know what's going on. I knew before. We have a similar issue there but he has it more serious, so it's unfortunate. You know, I hope he recovers well for US Open.
But, look, usually these things happen, due to the tough schedule and every day playing under tough conditions.
After his quarterfinal, I had asked Tomas Berdych if he planned on continuing on in this tournament despite the injury, with the start of the US Open less than two weeks away.
SBN: You said your first concern is to be 100% healthy for tomorrow. With the US Open coming up, if you're not at 100% do you plan on pulling out?
Tomas Berdych: This is too early to be deciding this. I have a lot of time to work on the shoulder, to relax, have a good sleep. Tomorrow I still have time to go warm up and see how it is and still decide. Definitely now I'm not going to be saying anything what's going to come up.
My priority is to get healthy and play because it's a good chance. I am in the semis, and that's where I want to be, and playing well. So I want to take this advantage and we will see.
After his loss against Djokovic, Berdych added that if his match against Federer had gone into a third set, he would have likely retired. Berdych said that it had not yet been determined what exactly was wrong with his shoulder, and that he hoped to be ready for his first US Open match.
