Tomas in Terrific Touch

Due to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's success on Hisense Arena, two other French players thought it might be fun to try their luck on the court on Day 3, the first being stylish left hander Kenny De Schepper.  He would need every ounce of luck because his opponent was to be 7th seed Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic.  Tomas normally is the taller of the players in his matches but against Kenny he was left well short.  So there was a win of sorts for the Frenchman.

And the glory kept coming with a win in the first game of the match, despite the introduction of a couple of double faults.  Tomas cruised into the clash with a seemingly effortless hold of serve and the ease continued with Kenny's big serving and volleying skill allowing him safe passage to 2-1.

With everyone sitting back feeling relaxed smoking a cigar and drinking a fine port, De Schepper went to the well again for a double fault, found one and gave up his serve for a 3-2 lead to Berdych.

Tomas thanked the French player graciously for the donation, and immediately invested it in another service game of his own.  The return on investment was markedly better than the returns from De Schepper's racquet, and Berdych closed in on the opening set, leading 4-2

Although erratic, De Schepper was, like many French players, playing some attractive tennis, and at another time, may challenge seriously a player of the ilk of Berdych.  Not in this opening set and not seriously anywhere else in January 2014.

Service was maintained by both players until the set finished - it ended with Berdych ahead 6-4.

The first set was as reasonably competitive as the second was a complete disaster.
Not for Berdych - he pummelled anything even half resembling something less than adequate from De Schepper and raced to 4-0.  Kenny didn't want a bagel next to his name so tried his utmost in game 5 not to be broken.  His hope triumphed.  Not much more for him though, as Berdych put the foot squarely to the floor and parcelled up the set 6-1.

The third set started with a Tomas Berdych hold of serve - he had become very predictable but extremely successful with his big serves and quality groundstrokes and volleys.
Kenny managed to hold against the flow and the game score was 2-1.  Berdych motored through his service games and the pressure always was on De Schepper.  In the fourth game, the pressure became too much, and a volley too big, leaving Berdych ahead 3-1 with service to come.  The only service for Kenny would be on the flight home.

Games went to serve for the remainder - the damage had already been inflicted.
Tomas Berdych won 6-4 6-1 6-3 and in that form may yet be a factor in Djokovic's side of the draw.