The Hindu : Sport : Tomas Berdych bundles out Roger Federer

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Tomas Berdych bundles out Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advance to the semifinals

— PHOTO: AFP

BESIDE HIMSELF WITH JOY:Tomas Berdych produced the performance of his life to beat Roger Federer in four sets, thus becoming the first Czech since Ivan Lendl in 1990 to make the men's last four at Wimbledon.

LONDON: Roger Federer crashed out of Wimbledon on Wednesday as Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych clinched a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over the defending champion in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals he will meet Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic who eased past Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Spain's World No. 1 Rafael Nadal beat Swedish sixth seed Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Later, British fourth seed Andy Murray booked his place in the semifinals with a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2 win over France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Federer has been almost untouchable at Wimbledon for the last seven years, winning the title six times and appearing in every final since 2003, but his reign was brought to an end in sensational fashion here on Centre Centre.

Berdych, the first Czech man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Ivan Lendl in 1990, said he could hardly believe he had put out the World No.2 on his stomping ground.

“It's amazing to play in this stadium, to play such a great player as Roger is and come here and be a winner, this is really amazing for me,” he said. “If I go through my career, I think it was so far the toughest game to serve and close out the match.”

Since losing in the first round to Croatia's Mario Ancic in 2002, Federer had been beaten just once at the All England Club — when Rafael Nadal outlasted him in the 2008 final.

Forgettable year

By his own high standards 2010 has been a forgettable year for Federer, who has now failed to win any of his eight tournaments since beating Andy Murray in the Australian Open final in January.

Federer's run of 23 successive Grand Slam semifinal appearances was snapped at Roland Garros where he lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Soderling, and he even lost for just the second time in 78 matches on grass when Lleyton Hewitt beat him in the final at Halle earlier this month.

Although Federer had won eight of his previous 10 encounters with Berdych, the Czech only had to think back to his win in their last meeting — in Miami in March — for evidence that he could shock the champion.

Standing a lofty 6ft 5in, Berdych has the perfect frame to deliver a barrage of big serves and his fearsome delivery kept Federer from establishing any momentum in the first set.

The 24-year-old had never been past the last eight here but he was in fine form after making the semifinals at Roland Garros.

Here he was able to test Federer with some booming ground-strokes and, at 3-3, he got the first break of serve when the Swiss tenatively guided a backhand out.

Federer was struggling to get any kind of read on Berdych's serve and the underdog had few problems serving out the first set.

In the second set, Federer was at least able to get Berdych's serve back into play so the 16-time grand slam champion could start to put pressure on the Czech, and he quickly earned two break points.

He converted the first with a brilliant passing shot on the run that curved away from Berdych before landing just inside the baseline.

Federer had the advantage and he held onto it comfortably enough to take the set.

There was still a lack of urgency about Federer though and Berdych regained the initiative when the Swiss star netted a volley to surrender his serve in the second game of the third set.

Berdych broke again in the sixth game and quickly served out to take a two sets to one lead.

Even when Federer earned four break points in the sixth game of the fourth set, Berdych was able to serve his way out of trouble.

Berdych kept hammering away from the baseline and broke for a 4-3 lead when Federer volleyed wide.

Federer made him serve out the match and had a chance to survive when he saved one match-point and earned a break-point.

But he netted a forehand and Berdych made him pay to seal one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history.

World No.3 Djokovic played almost faultless tennis to wrap up victory in an hour and 51 minutes.

Djokovic's serve was functioning so well Lu did not have a single break point in the three sets.

“Nothing is easy these days, especially at this stage of the tournament,” Djokovic said. “But the way I have played I think I deserve to win. I was hitting all the shots and I was really playing very solid from all parts of the court so I'm very, very happy with the performance.

“I sincerely hope to continue with this level of my game. The way I have been playing match after match is very encouraging.

“I've nothing really to lose in the semifinals,” he added.

Meanwhile, defending champions Venus and Serena Williams were knocked out of the women's doubles quarterfinals. The top seeds were beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva in just under two hours on Court Two.

Bopanna & Qureshi lose

Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner ended a fine run by Rohan Bopanna and Aisam ul Haq Qureshi in the doubles draw, with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2 win in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Quarterfinals: Men: 12-Tomas Berdych bt 1-Roger Federer 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; 3-Novak Djokovic bt Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; 2-Rafael Nadal bt 6-Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-1; 4-Andy Murray bt 10-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2.

. Doubles: Jurgen Melzer & Philipp Petzschner bt Rohan Bopanna & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2; 16-Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau bt Marcel Granollers & Tommy Robredo 7-6(5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela & Eduardo Schwank bt 14-Julien Benneteau & Michael Llodra 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-6(5).

Women: Doubles: Elena Vesnina & Vera Zvonareva bt 1-Serena Williams & Venus Williams 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Vania King &Yaroslava Shvedova bt 6-Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 .

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