Video: Berdych on Rivals and Goals

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Video: Berdych on Rivals and Goals

Top players share mutual respect, but the intensity of the pro circuit prevents them from sharing dinner, says Tomas Berdych.

Before launching defense of his Stockholm title this week, the top-seeded Czech sat down with Stockholm Open staff for the video Q & A above.

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Berdych said he never dines with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal—not because he doesn't want to break bread with the elite, but because of players' desire for privacy off court.

"That's not the case," Berdych said. "It's not that you don't want to, but it's just like... it doesn't really work like that. Every single guy have their own team and you want to have your own privacy when you spend the whole day. And you just want to focus for the things you want to do. It doesn't really work like that that we would be going with each other for a night out."

The world No. 5 won his 11th career title in Shenzhen earlier this month. Berdych, who reached a career-high rank of No. 4 in May, said he's trying to improve his game to elevate his ranking.

"Of course, if you want to get up and get better you need to add something—you can't really wait till the other guys are not going to be doing well," Berdych said. "We are in an extremely tough, tough tennis era. It's not really easy to break through. That's basically my daily goal: Try to improve and try to find a way how to get better. This year I increased my best ranking so far to No. 4. That's another goal, another step, another challenge."

The 30-year-old Czech's next challenge comes in the form of his talented 18-year-old Alexander Zverev, who is his opening opponent in Stockholm. The pair share the same fitness trainer and have practiced together. Berdych believes Zverev has "all the aspects to be a good player."

"I spent some time with him for training weeks and some training blocks," Berdych said of Zverev. "I have to say he's quite a good kid. He's very talented, I think he has a very bright future in front of him. It's going to be interesting, our first meeting, he's definitely the kid that has all the aspects to be a good player."

Photo credit: If Stockholm Open

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