Australian Open 2012: Tomas Berdych Advances With Four-Set Win

Tomas Berdych dropped the first set of his fourth round match with Nicolas Almagro, but rallied back to win the next three sets, all in tiebreakers, to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Australian Open. Berdych struggled early, falling behind by a set after Almagro’s 6-4 win in the opener, but handled himself well over the course of the rest of the match, coming up big in each subsequent tiebreaker.

In the second set, Berdych pushed Almagro to 6-6, then barely put him away in the tiebreak, 7-5. The same story repeated itself in the third as Berdych and Almagro again fought to a stalemate at 6-6. Again, Berdych powered through the tiebreak, this time taking the set 7-6 (7-3).

In the fourth and final set, it came down to a tiebreaker yet again, though Almagro was unable to mount a serious charge. Berdych took the set, 7-6 (7-2), and the match to advance to the quarterfinals.

Unhappy with a hard volley that struck him in the chest as he approached the net earlier in the match, Berdych refused to shake Almagro’s hand following the match, leading to a hearty chorus of boos from the crowd in attendance. The boos continued as Berdych packed up and headed to the locker room, only interrupted by a round of applause for Almagro as he left.

Berdych advances to face Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.