With uneven odds of winning, young Alexander Zverev did not manage to beat Tomas Berdych in the third round of men’s singles at the 2016 Wimbledon Championship on Sunday, July 3.
The expectations were on Berdych for this game, as he managed to beat Benjamin Becker under 90 minutes on his last round. Due to his past victories, many were betting on the Czech’s win on this section of Wimbledon 2016. But Zverev has gained momentum in his career along these past few months. He was initially ranked 86 in early 2016, and now he is among the world’s top 30 players, having one win over Roger Federer.
Zverev vs. Berdych: An overview
Zverev and Berdych have already competed at the ATP Tour and Grand Slam championships. Berdych managed to overcome in the past games, and most fans expected a similar outcome, although there was some hope on the rise of the German tennis star, the expectations on Berdych served the results of the match.
For starters, according to ATP, Berdych is 30 years old while Zverev is only 19. Both are right-handed. Berdych has held 12 titles in his career while Zverev has none. Berdych also has a trajectory of 14 years since turning professional, Zverev only 3. Perhaps this last Wimbledon game has displayed exactly how age competes with career merits as many say that it was one of the cup’s most exciting matches so far.
First set
The game opened with Zverev answering to Berdych’s service and scoring 15 for himself. Berdych quickly responded and led the first set to 1-4 until Zverev picked up the pace and carefully followed his rival. Berdych did not let go easy within the first games and hauled Zverev to a 3-5. Berdych served and accomplished the expectations by scoring until reaching 3-6 and then secured the first set.
Second Set
Zverev did not give up at all and managed to win the first game of the second set. Berdych came on close, but Zverev increased pressure upon a seemingly relaxed Berdych.
Berdych paired the score at 2-2, but Zverev did not flinch and kept on scoring, always one game above Berdych. 3-2, 3-3, but then the score stood at 3-4 in Berdych’s favor. Many acknowledged that Berdych was playing at his best and that he could even win the whole tournament.
Third Set
Zverev yet again started the set by winning a game. It seems that he did not want to leave the tournament without a fight, to which he called upon all of his force and reached an exciting 4-1. But Berdych knew how to handle the situation in spite of his mistakes.
Berdych broke Zverev, but the crowd was sided with Zverev, as they wanted a young lad to become the star of the day. Berdych evened the score at 4-4, and the audience started to realize that Berdych had an advantage of two sets. But Zverev fought on and succeeded in securing a set for himself at 6-4.
Fourth Set
Just as the previous games, Zverev started on a streak but Berdych did not take long to catch on. Berdych took it seriously and landed a cornering 1-4 on Zverev. The break ensued, and Zverev was struggling to focus, victory was possible, but he had to be at the top of his game and not become intimidated by Berdych’s game. But Berdych just kept increasing the pressure, to which Zverev eventually broke and lost the fourth and final set 1-6, thus Berdych becoming the winner of the match.
Source: Eurosport