Dubai: World No.8 Tomas Berdych thinks he has come up with a quick-fix formula to gain ascendency in the men’s game.
Berdych enjoyed possibly his best start to a season this year while assembling a 13-3 win/loss record so far. He started off 2015 reaching the final of the Qatar Open where he lost to David Ferrer, followed up with a semi-final at the Australian Open last month where he lost in four sets to Andy Murray and a week back, went down to Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets at the Rotterdam Open.
But despite not having any trophy to show this season, the Czech is pretty pleased with the other aspects of his game coming together. “I think it is always going to start with the fitness. I am a tall guy, quiet heavy guy and when you want to compete with guys like Andy [Murray], Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer], you are going to have to be extremely fit and prepared for that. So that’s the reason why I am saying you cannot just play at that level for a set or two when you are at the slams; you have to be ready to play at that level for five sets, no matter what’s going on,” Berdych said.
“So fitness is going to be the first thing. I am not saying it’s bad now, but to reach that top level, I need to improve. With this physical fitness, you are going to get a very clear thing: that ‘OK, now I am absolutely fine just to go there and not worry about anything else’. Then you can really focus on strategic plans and on the game,” he added.
“Fitness, I think, is quite enough. It sounds quite easy, but then to execute it is a little bit more difficult. It takes more time, but it’s good to have a plan, good to have a goal and try to chase them.”
But his start to the season has given him a lot of hope to stay positive. “I feel really good. I would have felt much better if I had at least one title under my belt, but I think there are many new things that I am trying to put into my game and I can already feel that they are working well, they are successful. So, it’s a good sign and gives me belief and promises good things for the future,” he noted.
Berdych has been a regular at the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open for the past few years. In the last two tournaments, the Czech has made the finals while losing to Novak Djokovic in 2013 and to Roger Federer last year. This year, Berdych will take on Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in their first round meeting on Tuesday in an attempt to better his previous best here.
“I think we are just in the period of the season where every tournament, especially this tournament, is very important. You have to see it as a single one where I want to do well and that’s it. It’s not part of any preparation or anything like that. Every single tournament has its own place. I think that’s good because it deserves to have this place in the calendar. It’s just how it is. You have to get ready starting Tuesday, and try to fight for the title,” Berdych said.
“You are not going to get any easy opponents here. That’s the signature of this tournament. That’s what I like. I want to be part of tournaments like this and always have a challenge from the first round on. There is no exception. I have played Jeremy [Chardy], I think that was also here, a couple of years ago. So it’s going to be the same thing, same procedure basically – try to really focus firstly on my game, try to bring it there and stay close with him, try to close some chances, and just have a good match, win and keep moving,” Berdych added.
