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Berdych: One slam would be enough


 

Originally published on: 01/03/12 14:35

Tomas Berdych has made his best start to a season, but the 26-year-old Czech believes that it has never been harder to win a Grand Slam title. Berdych, whose run at the Dubai Duty Free Championships was ended in today’s quarter-finals by Andy Murray, says the quality and consistency of the game’s top players makes it tough for anyone else to get a look in.
 
Berdych gave the example of this year’s Australian Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. If he had beaten the Spaniard he would still have had to find a way past Roger Federer in the semi-finals and then Novak Djokovic in the final in order to win the title.
 
“It’s a really tough time to be playing in this era,” Berdych said. “I would have needed to beat three of the top players to win a Grand Slam. One thing you need is maybe a bit of luck – to get in the side of the draw where you’re not going to face so many of them. They are really consistent, but I’m trying my best every day to get to that goal and win maybe one of the Grand Slam titles. That would be enough for me.”
 
Berdych has made one Grand Slam final, having lost to Nadal at Wimbledon two years ago, and believes that helped to make him a better player. “It’s a way of getting experience,” he said. “Sometimes the experiences are good, sometimes they’re bad. You have to know how to learn from them. I’m going my own way and improving hopefully week by week.”
 
The world No.7 has had a good run since the Australian Open. He won a tournament in Montpellier (the seventh singles title of his career), helped the Czech Republic beat Italy in the Davis Cup and made the semi-finals in Rotterdam before losing to Juan Martin del Potro.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.