Rafael Nadal dominated a windy Centre Court to see off the challenge of the seventh seeded Czech, Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-2 and move into the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Having now played two five-set matches in succession, the French Open champ and 2006 Wimbledon runner-up, is starting to approach his best form. BetUS.com has made Rafael Nadal a -300 odds favorite in his Wimbledon Semi Final match against Novak Djokovic.
It was a tough match for Berdych, who is fast-rising and on the brink of a place in the top 10. He has a reputation for winning long matches – he´s played nine five-set matches and won them all. But it was a different story as Nadal cruised through in straight sets.
The first set was close but once Rafael had won it after an hour there was no doubt about the eventual outcome. The Spanish left-hander widened his range of shots, clearly grew in self-belief, and Berdych suffered.
The Czech lost focus for the first few games of the second set in a fog and he never truly recovered.
After days of rain the sun was out at Wimbledon but the wind was also a factor at a roofless Centre Court but Nadal treated it as an asset, not an enemy.
It is true that Rafael Nadal did not serve quite as fast as Berdych most of the time but his menace and variety were well rewarded.
Nadal had looked in trouble when he was two sets behind to Mikhail Youzhny in the previous round but there was not the remotest prospect of that happening in this match.
Berdych broke serve only in the third game when both players were trying to get to grips with the patterns of the wind, the pace of the court and what their early tactics should be.
Berdych would serve 11 aces through the match against six by Nadal but on so many other counts Nadal was ahead.
Nadal used the court with increasing authority, raising the pace when it mattered, going for the unexpected if he thought Berdych was becoming dangerous.
He gave so few chances away. After recovering from that loss of serve, he had only one break point against him for the rest of the contest.
BetUS.com has posted Wimbledon odds on the Men's Singles Semi Final Match Ups on July 7th, 2007 at 7:00 AM EST:
Rafael Nadal: -300 vs. Novak Djokovic: +200
Roger Federer: -1200 vs. Richard Gasquet: +550
