• ATP World Tour Finals

Berdych blasts his way past Ferrer

Tomas Berdych picked up his first win at this year's ATP World Tour Finals after beating David Ferrer 6-4 6-4 at London's O2 Arena.

Berdych, who lost out to Stanislas Wawrinka in three tight sets on Monday in the tournament's curtain raiser, proved to be too powerful for Ferrer as the little Spaniard appeared to be fatigued from matches over the past few weeks.

The Verdict

• David Ferrer is one of the fittest players on the circuit, but even he has found the scheduling tough to cope with in recent months.
• His run to three finals in his previous three events since the middle of October took its toll on him against Tomas Berdych tonight in his 83rd match of the year, as more than once Ferrer struggled to get to shots that he would easily have reached if feeling 100%.
• With Ferrer now not able to make it to the semi-finals, it has become a straight shootout between Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka to see who will follow Rafael Nadal from the group and into the last four of the event.

The pair met five days ago in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters, and it was Ferrer on that occasion who claimed the win. But in London, it was Berdych's time to shine to leave Ferrer with no wins from his first two group encounters and an early exit from the tournament.

The serve of Berdych bailed him out of tricky situations during the opening games of the first set, as Ferrer was coming out on top in the rallies.

But Berdych began to make Ferrer sweat on his serve in the seventh game as the Spaniard had to fend off three break points, clinching the game with an ace down the middle.

However, in his following service game, Berdych pounced to break with a sweet backhand volley to take a 5-4 lead, and then he closed out the set in style with a couple of powerful serves and an overhead smash.

Like he did in the first set, Berdych made his move on Ferrer's serve at a crucial time, breaking in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead, and then completing the win with his ninth ace of the match.

"In Paris the match was very close. I'm glad my game was better and I was playing well. There were a lot of positive things from today," Berdych said.

Rafael Nadal is Berdych's final group opponent as he battles it out with Stanislas Wawrinka for a semi-final spot, and the Czech hinted that Nadal might take it easy having already booked his place in the last four.

"It's going to be a big one that's for sure, but I'm going to fight for the semi-finals," he said. "He's already through and he's secure for world No. 1, so you never know. But I know Rafa is a big fighter and he will never give a single point for free, so I'm not expecting any gifts."

Both Nadal and Djokovic have called for the World Tour Finals to move on from the O2, while Roger Federer hopes the event stays in London at the arena in Greenwich.

And when asked with which player he would side with, Berdych echoed the opinion of Federer and insists the World Tour Finals has its home.

"I really enjoy stepping out onto a court and having nearly 20,000 people there with a really good tennis atmosphere rather than playing in different cities," he replied.

"I don't think there is any other competitor of the cities that can provide such a tennis atmosphere like here, so I think that's the season-finale for us, and it should be with one of the best crowds I ever played [in front of].

"The atmosphere and the crowd is one of the best in the world."

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