Berdych Back in London Title Mix With Win Over Cilic

Tomas Berdych responded from an embarrassing defeat to Stan Wawrinka on Monday by routing U..S Open champion Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1 to stay alive at the ATP Finals in London.

The Czech lost his fifth straight opening round match at the ATP Finals in his loss to Wawrinka, but won his fifth straight second round-robin match by beating Cilic. He notched a break point in the match’s opening game and never looked back in the straight set win.

“I felt much better on the court,” said Berdych, who called his loss to Wawrinka the worst match he has played all season. “But still it was not one of my best. That’s fair to say. But I think that’s the beauty of this event. One day you can be swept out from the court like I did and I two days’ time you can come up and you can play a different tennis.”

After he opened with a break, the Czech and Croat would exchange holds for the next seven games as Berdych took a 5-3 lead into the set’s ninth game. On Cilic’s serve, Berdych led 40-0 before Cilic managed to save a set point, but that was all. Berdych would complete the break point and close out the opening frame 6-3.

Berdych began the second set on serve, and the two exchanged holds through the first three games. Up 2-1, the Czech notched his third break of the match to gain the break advantage. He would hold serve the rest of the way, breaking Cilic again in the sixth game on his way to the 6-1 set win.

Cilic entered the contest with a two-match winning streak over Berdych, both coming in Grand Slams this year, but played sloppy tennis from the get go on Wednesday. He failed to take advantage of six break point opportunities as Berdych won 36 of his 51 service points. In contrast, Cilic won just 51 percent of his serves, making for a one-sided match.

The U.S. Open champion has now lost both matches in London winning just a combined six games both contests.

“It seems that the things that I’m doing that are all basically going in a wrong direction,” said Cilic. “Especially with these guys at this kind of level, even small mistakes, or if you’re not at your best performances, the outcome is not going to be going in your favor. It’s unfortunate. I was looking forward to play here, to do well, to play good matches on a high level. It’s tough to handle.”

Berdych now moves to 1-1 in London and puts himself back in the running for a semifinal spot. His final round-robin match will come against world number one Novak Djokovic, while Cilic will take on Stan Wawrinka.

Djokovic and Wawrinka play later on today in Group A action.