By Chris Oddo | wednesday June 29, 2016
Tomas Berdych was happy to pass through early on Day as he finished off Ivan Dodig in four sets.
Photo Source: Getty
Tomas Berdych finished off his rain delayed victory over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in four sets, 7-6(5), 5-7 6-1, 7-6(2), to book his spot in the second round where he’ll face Benjamin Becker next.
Berdych said he has happy to get through quickly on Wednesday. After rain delayed the start of play by about an hour, the Czech moved through despite the fact that he failed to serve out the match at 5-4. He was able to finish the tiebreaker and get off the court just moments before play was called all over the grounds.
“It's been really up and down match, but, I mean, first of all, I should have been done already yesterday,” Berdych said. “But, yeah, at least a bit of sign of the good timing on this. It really helps. It's good to be done and especially when my opponents finished yesterday. I think it's really good that we were able to finish the match. You know, just now let's see and wait what's gonna happen for the upcoming days.”
Berdych improves his lifetime record at Wimbledon to 33-12. The 2010 runner-up here told reporters in press that he has still not hired a full-time coach after parting ways with Dani Vallverdu after the French Open.
“The situation right now, it's fine to me, and, you know [finding a replacement for Vallverdu] is definitely something that I'm looking for, Berdych said. "But I definitely don't want to say anything and let any speculations begin and who, where, what, why, and all those things that are very popular. So that's it.”
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The good news for Berdych is that he had the same second-round opponent in 2010, the year that he beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to reach his only Grand Slam final.
He defeated Becker in straight sets on that day. Berdych owns a 5-1 lifetime edge against Becker, but they have not met since 2012.
Notes, Quotes and Numbers
Berdych and Novak Djokovic are the only two players to have registered a win on Day 3. Rain has halted play, but the All-England Club hopes to resume by the end of the day with the intent to get more first-round matches completed.
Berdych has gone 24-12 on the season, reaching two semifinals (Doha Marseille).
Berdych said that he has no interest in taking on a coach for a certain surface or period of time. He seeks long-term commitment. “Yeah, it was always more for the long terms working relationship,” he said. “So that's how I see this situation.”