Season in review: It was a typical year for Berdych: two decent but not huge titles (Rotterdam and Stockholm), consistency at Grand Slams with serious noise-making at one (Australian Open semifinals), and a ranking of No. 7 in the world heading into London. He was, however, arguably one win away from a unique year–one that would have been his best-ever, in fact. With Rafael Nadal injured prior to the Aussie Open final, the Berdych vs. Stan Wawrinka semi was basically the title match. Berdych came close to winning it, but Wawrinka took the third and fourth sets in tiebreakers.
The Czech did not clinch a spot in the World Tour Finals until Paris, in part because of missed opportunities at majors. He had favorable draws at all four but lost to Ernests Gulbis in the French Open quarterfinals, to Marin Cilic in the Wimbledon third round when he would have played unseeded Jeremy Chardy in the last 16, and to Cilic again in the U.S. Open quarters. A dreadful U.S. Open Series put a dent in Berdych’s progress, but his fall swing has not been bad.
2014 record: 54-20
Fall record (post-U.S. Open): 13-5
Best tournament: Australian Open semifinals
d. Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
d. Kenny De Schepper 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
d. Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
d. Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
d. David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
l. to Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 7-6(4)
Biggest win at different tournament: d. Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2 in Rotterdam final
World Tour Finals appearances: 4
World Tour Finals record: 5-8
Record against other World Tour Finals qualifiers: 26-51
vs. Novak Djokovic: 2-16*
vs. Roger Federer: 6-12
vs. Stan Wawrinka: 5-9*
vs. Kei Nishikori: 1-3
vs. Andy Murray: 6-4
vs. Milos Raonic: 1-3
vs. Marin Cilic: 5-4*
*denotes in the same group
Quotable: “No matter how many times you qualify, it’ll never be routine. I mean, it’s always just proof of having a great season, and especially in this era of tennis when you have the guys like today.”
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