Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters event at the 2005 Paris Masters. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, achieved by consecutively upsetting top seed and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and world No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Berdych reached the semifinals of all four majors during his career.
Berdych was one of the few players who could consistently challenge the Big Four, and is one of three players (alongside Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka) to have wins over all of the Big Four at the majors. He is the second player (after David Nalbandian) to defeat Federer multiple times at majors before the semifinal stage. As well as his Paris Masters win, Berdych reached the finals of the Miami Masters in 2010, Madrid Open in 2012 and Monte Carlo Masters in 2015. He also played the longest men's doubles match ever, with Lukáš Rosol, defeating Marco Chiudinelli and Wawrinka in the first round of the 2013 Davis Cup 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–7, 24–22. The match was played on 2 February 2013, lasting 7 hours, 2 minutes. It was the second-longest ATP match ever (singles and doubles combined).
Early life Berdych was born in Valašské Meziříčí, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic since 1993), to Hana Berdychová and Martin Berdych. Berdych started playing tennis when he was five at the tennis centre in his hometown of Valašské Meziříčí. His father, Martin, was a train engineer and a tennis player,Paul Stenning, Success – By Those Who’ve Made It. 2013, p.65. while his mother, Hana, is a doctor. Berdych describes his childhood as full of joy and happiness.
At the age of eight, he won the top young boys' competition in the Czech Republic in Pardubice. Berdych soon became a leading junior player, winning the Czech Republic U-12 junior title. He then moved to the city of Prostějov, where there were more practice partners and better coaches. Berdych travelled back home often to maintain ties with his old school.
Due to the harsh winters in the Czech Republic, winter preparation took place inside a sports hall. Berdych cites this as the reason he prefers hard courts, especially indoor conditions.Paul Stenning, Success – By Those Who’ve Made It. 2013, p.67.
Personal life Berdych is a fan of ice hockey, and his favourite team is the Detroit Red Wings. He has met many Czech players from the National Hockey League and the 1998 Olympic gold medal team, including Martin Straka, Jaromír Jágr and Dominik Hašek. All of them are big tennis fans and have on several occasions come to Prostějov to play alongside Berdych. His favourite surface is the hard court, and he considers his strengths to be his forehand and serve. His fitness trainer is José Félix González Castilla.
Berdych was in a long-term relationship with tennis pro Lucie Šafářová until they broke up in 2011. He became engaged to model Ester Sátorová in late 2014. The pair married in July 2015.
Berdych is a fan of the Irish rock band U2 and would like to meet frontman Bono someday. His favourite TV show is Suits. In football, Berdych supports Manchester United.
Career
2001–2003: Junior US Open doubles champion and turning pro As a junior Berdych reached as high as No. 6 in the world in 2003 (and No. 2 in doubles). He won the 2001 US Open Boys' Doubles title alongside Stéphane Bohli
Junior Grand Slam results:
Australian Open: 1R (2002) French Open: 2R (2002) Wimbledon: QF (2003) US Open: 1R (2001)
Berdych turned professional in 2002, winning two Futures events, both in the Czech Republic, defeating Pavel Šnobel in one final and Ladislav Chramosta in the other.
In 2003, after several future and challenger wins, Berdych won his first ATP Tour match at the 2003 US Open, over Tomas Behrend in four sets, but lost in the next round to Juan Ignacio Chela.
2004: First title, first win over world No. 1 In 2004, Berdych focused on Challengers and the ATP Tour. In Challengers, he won in France and Germany. On the ATP Tour, he began with the 2004 Australian Open, defeating Nicolas Mahut in four sets, before losing to fourth seed Andre Agassi. He also earned victories over Galo Blanco, Björn Phau and Potito Starace on the ATP Tour. He made his debut in the 2004 French Open and at Wimbledon, but lost in the first round.
He then played at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won in the first round against Florian Mayer and caused a major upset in the second round, defeating No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets, despite having only five ATP Tour victories. He next beat 15th seed Tommy Robredo in the round of 16, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Taylor Dent.
After his run at the Olympics, he reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open with victories over Jonas Björkman, Tuomas Ketola and Mikhail Youzhny, before losing to Tommy Haas in three sets.
He won his first ATP title at the Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia in Palermo, Italy, defeating David Ferrer in the semifinals and Filippo Volandri in the finals.
2005: Maiden Masters title, top 30 The start of Berdych's 2005 season brought losses in the first rounds in Adelaide, Sydney, and the Australian Open. He then lost in second rounds of Marseille, Rotterdam, and Dubai. He then recorded his first back-to-back wins in Indian Wells, including a win over Mario Ančić, but lost to Ivan Ljubičić. He then lost in the first rounds of Miami, Estoril, Rome, and London. He also reached the second rounds of Monte Carlo, Hamburg, the French Open, and Nottingham.
Berdych made it to the third round at Wimbledon, losing to Taylor Dent. He had a good run with a runner-up finish in the 2005 Swedish Open to Rafael Nadal, a quarterfinal loss to Nikolay Davydenko at the 2005 Stuttgart Open and a semifinals loss to James Blake at the 2005 Washington Open. He then made it to the second round of both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters. Berdych lost in the third round of the 2005 US Open. He then lost early in Vienna, Madrid, Palermo, and Basel. At the 2005 Paris Masters, he won his first career ATP Masters Series title. En route to the final, he beat Jiří Novák, second seed Guillermo Coria, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gastón Gaudio, and Radek Štěpánek. In the final he was victorious over sixth seed Ivan Ljubičić in five sets.
2006: Top 10, two finals In 2006, Berdych started the year at the Brisbane International, where he reached the semifinals, losing to Xavier Malisse. However, he lost early in Sydney, the Australian Open, Marseille, Rotterdam, and Dubai. He then made it to the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters before losing to Marcos Baghdatis, and the third round of the 2006 NASDAQ–100 Open, losing to David Nalbandian. He then lost in the second rounds at Barcelona and Monte Carlo, and the third round at Rome. He reached his first French Open fourth round but lost to Roger Federer in three sets.
He then reached his first grass-court final at the Halle Open, falling to No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets. He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, but again lost to Federer, this time in straight sets. He then made it to the semifinals at the 2006 Mercedes Cup, losing to eventual champion David Ferrer. He then played in the 2006 Rogers Cup, where he upset Rafael Nadal in three sets, before losing to Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. He then made it to his third straight fourth round in a Major at the 2006 US Open, losing to James Blake.
Berdych reached the finals of the 2006 Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open, where he lost to Dmitry Tursunov. In the 2006 Madrid Masters, Berdych delivered back-to-back upsets over former No. 1 Andy Roddick, and Rafael Nadal, but lost to Fernando González in the semifinals. Following this, Berdych rose to a career-high of No. 10 for the very first time in his career. In the 2006 BNP Paribas Masters as the defending champion, he lost in the quarterfinals to Dominik Hrbatý in three sets.
Berdych ended 2006 with a year-end ranking of No. 13.
2007: Third title, World Team Cup final
Berdych began the year by making it to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Medibank International and the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, losing to No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko. He then had early losses in Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami. He then reached the semifinals on clay in the Monte Carlo Masters event, his best result at the event, defeating Nicolás Almagro, Benjamin Becker, fifth seed Tommy Robredo, and Robin Söderling, before losing to second seed Rafael Nadal. He also made it to the semifinals of the 2007 BMW Open, losing to Mikhail Youzhny, despite not a dropping a set before the loss. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Rome Masters. However, despite his good run on clay, he lost in the first round of the 2007 French Open to Guillermo García López in straight sets.
Berdych then won his third ATP singles title in Halle, defeating Marcos Baghdatis, and not dropping a set en route to the title. At Wimbledon, he made it to the quarterfinals in his best performance at a Grand Slam, defeating Nicolás Massú, Michaël Llodra, Hyung-Taik Lee, and 19th seed (35th-ranked) Jonas Björkman, before losing to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. In the Canada Masters event, his first tournament since Wimbledon, as the 10th seed and defending quarterfinalist, he lost in the first round to Robin Haase, who was making his Canadian debut. The following week in Cincinnati, as the 10th seed, he made it to the third round, before losing to Nikolay Davydenko, after which he rose to a new career high of No. 9. He then made it through the fourth round at the 2007 US Open, retiring against Andy Roddick. He then reached the semifinals of the 2007 Thailand Open, losing to Benjamin Becker and the 2007 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to Richard Gasquet. His last tournament of the year was the 2007 Paris Masters, losing to David Ferrer.
2008: First ATP 500 title Berdych began 2008 by competing in the Hopman Cup, but this event was affected by a stomach virus. He then entered the 2008 Medibank International, being upset by Chris Guccione in the quarterfinals. Entering the 2008 Australian Open as the 13th seed, he reached the fourth round, where he fell to Roger Federer in straight sets. At the 2008 Miami Masters, Berdych made it to the semifinals, including a win over Juan Carlos Ferrero and not dropping a set en route, but he lost to Rafael Nadal. He dropped out of the top 20 due to a sprained right ankle which caused him to miss the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2008 Rome Masters. He then reached the finals of the 2008 Swedish Open, losing to Tommy Robredo.
Representing his country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Berdych advanced to the third round before being defeated by Roger Federer in their second meeting at an Olympics tennis tournament. He also had a bad run in North America, as he suffered early losses and a first-round loss in the 2008 US Open to Sam Querrey. He then made it to the semifinals of the 2008 Thailand Open, losing to Novak Djokovic. He then won his only title of the year in the 2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, with wins over four top-20 players: Tommy Robredo, Fernando González, Andy Roddick, and Juan Martín del Potro in the finals.
2009: Fifth title, Davis Cup final