Rafael Nadal knocked out of Australian Open by Tomas Berdych
Rafael Nadal held off three match points in the quarterfinal, but he couldn't hold on to the match. Tomas Berdych closed out a straight-set upset, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) over the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
Berdych held a 6-5 lead in the third set with Nadal serving. He nearly converted the break for the win, at one point leading 30-0, but Nadal finally showed some fight. The No. 3 seed rallied back to hold off two match points and force a tiebreak.
Berdych then jumped to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak before Nadal rallied back to 5-4. At 6-4, Nadal again held off match point. But finally, on his fourth opportunity, Berdych put the match away.
He credited his strong start as the difference in the match, adding that he fed off the momentum of the entire first week.
"I think it's all the way through the tournament, you're not going to get it after one night, you have to build it up," he said after the match.
Berdych hit twice as many winners (46) as errors (21) throughout the match and won 92 percent of his first-serve points in that dominanct second set. Nadal only hit 24 winners, with 26 unforced errors. Even when he's playing poorly, it's rare to see Nadal drop a set 6-0.
Berdych just fed Nadal only third bagel of his Slam career. Previously served by Federer at Wimbledon 2006, Roddick at 2004 US Open.#AusOpen
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 27, 2015
The win snaps Berdych's 17-game losing streak against Nadal – he hadn't beaten Nadal since 2006. He'd only taken one set in their last 17.
He remained fairly stoic as he sealed the win on Tuesday (Monday night in the U.S.). As soon as they shook hands at the net, though, Berdych broke out in a huge smile, clapping his hand into his net and waving into the stands.
He'll play the winner of the day's second quarterfinal, between Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios.
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