Playing on Court 17 at Flushing Meadows, Czech number one Tomas Berdych secured his place in the third round of this year's US Open tournament in two hours and three minutes. Playing against Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who made the main draw of this event after winning three qualifying matches, Berdych fought through a tight first set, before dominating play in the next two. He took the match in straight sets, including a first set tiebreaker, 7-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Tight opening set to the Czech
The match began with strong play and strong serving from both players and there were no break points in the entire first set. Each player had a few aces (three for Berdych and four for Melzer), with only one double fault between the two, courtesy of the Vienna born Melzer. Both landed about 60 percent of first serves, 59 percent and 62 percent for the world number six and the world number 131, respectively, and only eleven errors each. The two men had almost identical number's of winners, with Berdych's ten only one fewer than his opponents.
They were even equal in total points won in the set, with 40 apiece. The difference between a sixth seed and an unseeded player were more clear in the tiebreaker, as Berdych used his talent and experience to win it seven points to two.
Berdych cruises in second set
In the second set, the gap in ability between the two became more apparent, with the Czech player finding his form. He was able to convert both break points he had on Melzer's serve, all without facing any break points on his own serve. The Austrian never recovered from being broken in the fourth game of the set, when Berdych caught him up at the net on break point.
He was broken again in his next service game, en route to the quickest set of the match, lasting only 32 minutes. By contrast, the first set had lasted nearly an hour at 53 minutes. Berdych was particularly dominant in second serve points won; while the two players had been relatively even in the first set—Berdych winning 63 percent and and Melzer winning 54 percent—the 29 year old's numbers improved in set two and his 34 year-old opponent's dropped. He won 89 percent of second serve points and Melzer won only 33%. The sixth seed also had five aces and 15 winners compared to none and two for his opponent.
Third set cruising for the Czech
Berdych ensured that he was in control in the third set by taking advantage of an early break point to take a comfortable lead. He wrapped up the victory with another break of serve up five games to three. He missed a chance a couple of games earlier to gain the second break, when Melzer saved a couple break points and eventually won a game with several deuces. The third set saw the biggest disparity in unforced errors with five for the Czech and 16 for the Austrian.
The errors were even at eleven each in the first set, and fairly close at five and two respectively in the second set. Overall in the match, the winner had the stronger second serve and was better at converting break points. He won four of his six, while Melzer won none of his.
Berdych will take on Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a place in the second week of the last Grand Slam of the year.