An improbable comeback was staged at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday afternoon and it was engineered by perhaps the most unlikely of players. Yoshihito Nishioka, who needed a lucky-loser spot simply to get into the main draw, trailed Tomas Berdych 6-1, 5-2 before somehow recovering to pull off a 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 upset in a third-rounder that lasted two hours and 21 minutes.
Berdych’s 5-2 advantage in the second set actually consisted of two breaks, but he failed to serve out the match at 5-2, squandered one match point with Nishioka serving at 5-3, and got broken again at 5-4. Just one mini-break for Nishioka, which came at 5-5, was enough for him to take the ensuing tiebreaker.
The world No. 70 from Japan gave back a break at 1-0 in the deciding set but broke again for 2-1 and served things out the rest of the way. A love hold at 5-4 clinched victory in style.
“I was down 1-6, 2-5; I couldn’t figure out how [to] beat Berdych,” Nishioka noted. “I tried to find a way, and then I think he give me a little bit [of a chance]. I just [kept] trying to (win) every point. (It) is wonderful coming back.
“I knew he (was) gonna be nervous,” he added when asked if he was surprised that Berdych had problems closing out the match. “I knew it.”
Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem had no such issues against underdogs on Monday.
Wawrinka rolled over Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-3 in only one hour and 17 minutes to set up a fourth-round meeting with Nishioka. The world No. 3 cracked seven aces while double-faulting only once and he did not face a single break point the entire way.
“It was a really good match,” Wawrinka commented. “I’m very happy. (The) first set was not easy, for sure, but in general I’m happy with my game. I was serving well. I think I’m moving better and better. It’s all positive so far.”
Thiem took care of Mischa Zverev 6-1, 6-4 in a mere 58 minutes. Zverev’s serve-and-volley tactics did nothing to trouble his opponent on a slow hard court and the veteran German was also hopeless in the return game. Thiem, who fell to Zverev in the doubles opening round (Thiem and Kohlschreiber vs. the Zverev brothers), dropped only eight points in nine service games. He fired seven aces without double-faulting and served at 71 percent.
“He’s a very tricky opponent, but I had a very good start,” the eighth-seeded Austrian said of Zverev. “I returned very well–actually, probably better than I expected. So it was very, very good performance from the first to the last point.”
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no idea how Berdych lost that
even by Berdych standards, that’s bad
Hoping Berdych can manage to laugh it off and forget it. It was entertaining!
I think Berdy may be on the down side of his career. He was never mentally strong, even though he had the big serve and flat, powerful groundstrokes.
I didn’t see that match, but to collapse like that and lose to Nishioka is not good. Berdy is already outside of the top ten.
I think it’s more that Berdy has never had a Plan B for those times when Plan A just isn’t working. I didn’t see the match either, but I was kind of impressed with Nishioka’s match vs Rafa in Acapulco. He’s very quick. He’s also pretty short though – shorter than Nishikori – and that’s getting tougher to deal with all the time.
Agree that Berdy is feeling his age as are most of the rest of the Top Ten of the past few years.
Rough for Berdych
My boy Evan King now has an indirect over Berdych!!!!!!!
who?
Evan King is an American player who’s outside top 300 but he beat Nishioka at a challenger before. That’s probably what that guy means by he has an indirect over Berdych as in an indirect win.