Czech Tomas Berdych snapped a run of 11 consecutive defeats by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to reach the semi-finals of the Rome Masters, before Rafael Nadal was stretched to the limit against David Ferrer on Friday.
Berdych clawed his way back from a 6-2, 5-2 deficit to stun the Serbian top seed 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and set up a semi-final meeting with Nadal, who for the second week running outlasted compatriot Ferrer in a fierce clay-court scrap.
Nadal won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 for his ninth consecutive victory over Ferrer, who hit the Mallorcan with every weapon in his locker, but still came up short as he did in Madrid last week.
“It was an extremely tough match, David always takes you to the limit,” Nadal, looking for his sixth title in eight tournaments since returning from injury, told reporters.
“I am extremely happy. I think I made a huge effort both in the second set when I was 4-0 down and in the third to get past a fantastic opponent,” he added.
Frenchman Benoit Paire dropped just one game against Marcel Granollers of Spain to reach his first Masters Series semi-final where he is to play second seed Roger Federer. The Swiss overcame Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
After easing through the first set, Federer survived a scare when he was broken in the opening game of the second, but after clawing his way back to 5-5, he took the tiebreak for the loss of just two points.
Berdych had not tasted victory over Djokovic since the 2010 Wimbledon semi-finals and was on the brink of a 12th straight loss to the Serb before an amazing transformation.
The clean-hitting world No. 6 won five games in a row to level the match and then dominated the deciding set to leave Djokovic with food for thought before the French Open.
“It’s a special victory. I was on 11 defeats in a row [against Djokovic] and it had to stop,” said Berdych, who did not even create a break point until the top seed served for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Djokovic, who also lost early in the Madrid Open last week, said he had let Berdych back into the match.
“It was a very weird match,” he told reporters. “I lost concentration and I started to play too defensively, and did not convert my opportunities and I lost this match on my own.”
“I need to make sure that I don’t have highs and lows. I’m sure that I will be ready for [the French Open in] Paris,” he added.
In the women’s event, world No. 1 Serena Williams pulverized Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 to reach the last four, but there will be no re-run of last week’s Madrid final after Maria Sharapova was forced to withdraw from her quarter-final because of illness.
Fifteen-time Grand Slam champion Williams is enjoying the longest winning streak of her illustrious career, her rout of Suarez-Navarro stretching her run to 22.
“I guess this is the best period in my career, but I don’t really think about it,” Williams said.
Next in her sights is Romanian qualifier Simona Halep who beat twice former champion Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.
Meanwhile, Sharapova said the thought of not recovering in time to defend her French Open title had prompted her to pull out of the Rome Open before her quarter-final.
Sharapova, a two-time winner and the world No. 2, had been due to play Italy’s Sara Errani, who she defeated in last year’s French Open final.
However, the Russian announced her withdrawal on Friday morning, citing sickness and claiming she had run a temperature overnight.
“I’ve a lot on my schedule and they all mean a lot for me, and obviously with the French Open coming up it is important to make smart decisions,” Sharapova said.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was