Tomas Berdych and Kevin Anderson earn wins on Wednesday in Indian Wells to book another showdown against one another in the quarterfinals. The winner will go up against either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
Tomas Berdych secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open by taking care of Richard Gasquet 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday afternoon. Berdych fired 10 aces and recovered from a minor hiccup in the second set to prevail after one hour and 40 minutes.
Gasquet was nothing more than hopeless during the first set, in which he served at 40 percent and saved none of the break points he faced. The 10th-ranked Frenchman had one chance on the Berdych delivery, but he could not convert. Berdych served out the opener at 5-1 for an early advantage.
The sixth-seeded Czech led by a break in the second and appeared to be on the way to a remarkably routine win, but he suddenly gave the break back. Still, Berdych managed to save 11 of 12 break points in set two and that thoroughly demoralized his opponent. Gasquet eventually dropped serve at 5-5 and Berdych wrapped up the proceedings one game later.
Next up for the world No. 6 is Kevin Anderson, who maintained his fine form with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Gilles Simon. Anderson converted three of seven break points before advancing in one hour and 47 minutes.
After a dominant first set by the 6’8” South African, it would be fair to say Simon’s second-set comeback came out of nowhere. But he had staged borderline miracle comebacks against Paolo Lorenzi and Benoit Paire earlier in the tournament, so belief was there. The 13th-ranked Frenchman seized his first break at 1-1 with a winner off the net cord and with that he was off to the races. In fact, Simon won six consecutive games to force a deciding set with ease.
Anderson may have been mentally gearing up for the third after the initial break in the second, and it paid off. The world No. 37 regained control by earning what proved to be a difference-making scalp of the Simon serve for 1-0. Both players held the rest of the way and Anderson dropped only five points in his last five service games. Simon had a slight 15-30 opening at 5-4, but Anderson won the final three points to clinch victory.
Berdych and Anderson will now be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers, for the second time this season, and for the sixth time in the last 15 months on Thursday afternoon. Berdych has won all five of their previous encounters, including three on hard courts. Almost all of them, however, have been competitive. They most recently faced each other at the Australian Open (for a second straight season), where Berdych dominated the first two sets before taking the third 15-13 in a tiebreaker.
As long as Anderson’s elbow holds up, this should not be the weak link of a blockbuster quarterfinal lineup in Indian Wells because both men are in outstanding form. Anderson, despite undergoing minor elbow surgery after his Melbourne showing, is a stellar 13-3 for the year. The unseeded threat opened this fortnight with wins over Victor Hanescu, David Ferrer, and Jarkko Nieminen prior to ousting Simon.
Berdych owns a 17-4 record for his 2013 campaign following straight-set victories at the expense of Mischa Zverev, Florian Mayer, and Gasqquet. The Czech is still in search of his first title of the season, but he finished runner-up in Marseille and Rotterdam in addition to a quarterfinal run Down Under.
Picking Anderson to win is risky because you never know when his elbow could act up (as it did in a Delray Beach loss to John Isner), but he has to get over the hump against Berdych at some point, right? The 6’8” South African is playing the best tennis of his career, so look for him to pull off the upset.
Pick: Anderson in 3
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