Fresh off wins over Roger Federer and Andy Murray, respectively, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will face each other on Saturday in the Cincinnati semifinals. The winner will go up against either Juan Martin Del Potro or John Isner for the title.
Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will be squaring off for the 18th time in their careers when they meet in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 14-3, including 7-3 on hard courts. Since losing three of his first four against Berdych, the Spaniard has won 13 in a row. They have faced each other twice this season, with Nadal prevailing 6-4, 7-5 in the Indian Wells semis before cruising 6-2, 6-4 at the same stage of the Rome tournament. Berdych has not defeated his nemesis since the crowd-silencing match at the Madrid Masters–when it was on indoor hard courts–in 2006.
If Berdych wants to get back on the scoreboard, he is not exactly catching Nadal at the right time do so. Cincinnati’s No. 4 seed captured the Montreal title last Sunday and so far this week he has taken out Benjamin Becker, Grigor Dimitrov, and Roger Federer. With an Indian Wells triumph also in tow, Nadal is an almost-hard-to-believe 14-0 on hard courts in 2013.
Berdych, though, is in great form as well. The sixth-ranked Czech owns a 40-15 record for the year, which includes quarterfinal finishes at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Berdych lost early in Montreal to Vasek Pospisil in a third-set tiebreaker, but he is back on track in Cincinnati. The No. 6 seed earned a place in the last four with convincing straight-set wins over Jarkko Nieminen, Tommy Robredo, and Andy Murray.
Despite his opponent’s incredible form, Berdych should have some chances in this one. In addition to his own high level of play, the court favors him and he has also played Murray in the afternoon while Nadal has contested all of his matches this week at night. Daytime conditions generally help Nadal, but he is not used to them in Cincinnati. Berdych can push the former world No. 1 around if he serves well and is finding the range on his forehand, but past head-to-head history is too glaring to expect an upset. Once again, Nadal should wear Berdych down at the end of a tight match by running the big man back and forth via a steady diet of heavy forehands.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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As long as Rafa keeps serving well he’ll be OK. Too many bad unforced errors though so far. Squandering chances to break Berdy.
wow this is a high quality match…berdych is gona be really tough today
Rafa breaks!! Vamos. And he is serving like a demon. Keep calm and serve out Rafa!!
This is crazy!!! I never expected Rafa to be this good, inspite of being a hard core fan!
rare bad game from rafa :/
vamosrafa!!Isnt it abt 3:30 in Pak? Think rafa will get it done in straights
That 2nd set was a bit scrappy. But what the heck. Rafa makes his first final in Cincy
That was a tough, tough match but Rafa is too good. What more can Berdych do to beat Rafa?
by far the best performance from rafa this week..that purple patch midway through the second set aside, he was just brilliant. SO aggressive with the forehand as well as the backhand…excellent court positioning…MAGNIFICENT serving and great ROS too… He hit more than twice as many forehand winners as berdych did I guess wow… This is just a dream run ! who says rafa cannot do well at cincy??
Rafa to topple Isner in 2 sets…Isner will be tired and I think rafa will do just enough with the return game.. so the no.2 ranking is waiting and so is the record equaling 5th masters 1000 of the year
vmk, yeah it is 3.42 am here in pakistan 🙂
vamooooos rafa! it’s 3.12 am here 😀
@clayqueen/nadline, EXACTLY..what more can berdych do? he played a great match and still could not win a set on a fast hard court. No wonder his answer to the ‘toughest player you have ever faced’ question was Nadal without any hesitation
The match was an emotional roller coaster ride! But, the result matters! I am very, very happy that Rafa won. Well done, Rafa!!!! Vamoooossss!!!!
Well Done Rafa, another final. What has that guy done during the break!!! He is playing like a man possessed and I love it ! Wooo Hooo
I am so proud of my Rafa!!! This is indeed a dream run. Who would have thought, so many had written Rafa off!!! He can only play on clay when he started winning it all, then now he has silenced his critics and detractors yet again!!!! What a guy, my Braveheart!!!!
Rafa just keeps making and breaking records……………..phenominadal!!!! What can I say, wishing him luck in his game tomorrow and also the best of health!!!!!
Its great to see fellow tennis players following the Rafa/Roger matches!!! It was an excellent match, I cant stop saying how awesome Roger played but Rafa is Rafa!!!! God blessed the day that he entered the tennis world!!!!!
VAMOS!!!!
I had to go out and missed most of the second set of Rafa’s match. I came home and started watching the recording but then decided to see if the match was still going on. So I put it on and they had just started the tb. I was very pleased to see Rafa get this win in two very tough sets. I watched the interview with Rafa and that’s when I realized that he served six double faults in that second set.
So then I went back and watched the second set. I don’t know what happened to Rafa, but he had a really bad patch with his serving. However, overall Rafa is playing just outstanding tennis now. Berdy gave it everything he had, but it wasn’t enough. Rafa’s forehand was on fire.
The only thing I am not happy about is Rafa playing someone like Isner in the final. I know that Rafa doesn’t like to play him either.
So some think it’s going to be straight sets? I am not banking on Isner being tired. He can get too many easy points on his big serve. Also he will have the crowd behind him. I just want Rafa to win and get that #2 ranking for the USO!
The commentators were talking about how hard it is to win these two hard court Masters back-to-back. The last one to do it was Roddick in 2003. Agassi did it in 1995. Someone else did in between but I don’t remember. So it’s been ten years and no one has done it.
Go get the win Rafa!
how was the second set (others’ opinions?). I left after the first.
Inexplicable bad serving display by Rafa, Ricky. 2 double faults in one game and got broken. Thankfully he broke right back but was under pressure immediately after with Berdych pressing, no doubt sensing Rafa’s momentary vulnerability on serve. It was a dogfight right to 6/6, I felt Rafa steadied the ship in the TB, started the TB with a stunning FH DTL passing shot when Zberdych ventured to the net with sort of set the tone for the rest of the TB, I thought Berdych knew the game was up right there.
Rafa had a bad patch with his serving and was broken early in the second set after having a few break chances himself. Then he got the break right back. Rafa double faulted six times in that second set!
I thought that Rafa’s level went down a bit in that second set. In the tb, Rafa got the early break but then gave it back. I thought the key was when Berdy double faulted to make it 3-2 Rafa. Then Rafa won the next three points to get to 6-3. Berdy got one to save a match point, but then Rafa closed it out.
thanks NNY. He looked very good in the first.
Yes, he was great in the first set.
Thanks for the preview for the finals.
Nadal vs. Isner preview – https://tenngrand.com/2013/08/18/cincinnati-final-preview-and-pick-nadal-vs-isner/
In case you haven’t seen the match yet, you can watch it here:
Nadal vs Berdych Cincinnati 2013 SF Full Match PART1 HD Spanish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nMDUooAgK8
Nadal vs Berdych Cincinnati 2013 SF Full Match Part2 HD English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLLJG_NZ8kg
Nativnewyorker7@August 18, 2013 at 1:58 am
—The commentators were talking about how hard it is to win these two hard court Masters back-to-back. The last one to do it was Roddick in 2003. Agassi did it in 1995. Someone else did in between but I don’t remember.—
It was Patrick Rafter in 1998.
augusta,
Thanks for that! 🙂
Someone commented this on atpworldtour.com..is it true? Was he gassed?
Btw, he was exhausted at the end of the match. This was weird. He’s getting older, and with his style of game getting older will have a real impact on his abilities.