Article

  • Tokyo champion looking to continue good form

    10/13/08 1:52 AM | David Cox
    - Tomas Berdych hits the European indoor courts for the first time this autumn on Monday against Rainer Schuettler, hoping he's brought back his form from the Far East.

    Berdych was on fire out there, making the Bangkok semis before losing to Novak Djokovic and then taking out Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro to win the Tokyo title. The Czech, however, blows very hot and cold so it will be no surprise if he loses in the first round here.

    Berdych made the Miami Masters semis after an ordinary couple of months and then reached the Bastaad final in July after a dreadful spell on clay and grass. His only decent slam showing came in Australia at the start of the year where he lost to Roger Federer in the last 16.

    In contrast, Schuettler has transformed himself since Wimbledon and has a likely chance of getting a seeding for Melbourne. Suddenly, he went from struggling former top 5 player, finding it difficult to win rounds in Challengers, to contender once again with that dramatic charge to the Wimbledon semis. Over the last few weeks he's made two quarters in Tokyo and Stockholm as well as the semis in Beijing.

    They've played just the once before, with Berdych winning 7-6, 6-1, but that was three years ago. A lot will depend on how both players adapt to the Madrid courts, which are a little different: balls fly slightly more, a bit bouncier and it usually takes players a couple of matches to find their rhythm, something not often seen in Masters Series events.

    Prediction: Berdych in 3

Check out Rainer Schuettler and Tomas Berdych head-to-head statistics
Tell a friend »

Other articles related to the tournament

Click here fore more articles

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password:

Expekt.com offers you the widest range and best odds on all tennis matches. Click here to bet and check all the latest tennis odds from expekt.com

Did you know that... Michael Chang is the youngest Grand Slam champion in tennis history. He was 17 years and 3 months old when he won the French Open in 1989.

Register for newsletter:

Poll

The ATP season is
Too long
Fine as it is
Too short

Poll archive

Articles - Latest commented

Blog - Latest commented

Tell a friend

Your name:

Friend's name:

Friend's email:

Other tennis links

Related articles

de  Rainer Schuettler cz  Tomas Berdych
ATP Masters Series Madrid  ATP Masters Series Madrid