Wimbledon Championships
Venue: All England Club, London Date: 21 June - 4 July
Coverage: Live on BBC One and Two, HD, Red Button, BBC Sport website (UK only), Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra; live text commentary online and on mobile phones; watch again on BBC iPlayer
Full details of BBC coverage
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By Caroline Cheese
BBC Sport at Wimbledon |
Tomas Berdych produced a performance of power and poise on Centre Court to reach his first Wimbledon final as third seed Novak Djokovic unravelled.
The Czech, conqueror of Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, will face Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final after winning 6-3 7-6 (11-9) 6-3.
The key to the match was a gripping second-set tie-break.
Djokovic saved five set points, and had two of his own, but he double-faulted on the sixth and his challenge faded.
The Serb threw in two more double-faults to drop his serve in the eighth game of the third set, and Berdych came through comfortably in the end after two hours and 18 minutes.
"The feeling is amazing, it's tough to describe," the 24-year-old told BBC Sport.
"Every young kid who first hits a ball, this is the dream to be in the final of a Grand Slam - and if it's at Wimbledon... It's definitely the pinnacle. It's the biggest tournament for me."
Whether he faces Murray or Nadal, Berdych is again likely to be the underdog on Sunday as he has proved in successive wins over six-time champion Federer and third seed Djokovic, that is unlikely to trouble him.
Common sense suggested Djokovic, a veteran of six Grand Slam semi-finals, and the winner of the 2008 Australian Open, would handle the occasion better, but Berdych started marginally better.
It was a match between two very modern tennis players: tall, athletic, armed with crunching serves and flat, searching groundstrokes.
Both were loathe to leave the baseline - the first hour featured no volley winners - and their similar styles initially made for a rather flat atmosphere on Centre Court.
Djokovic struggled to find the range on his fearsome forehand and it was an error off that wing that gave Berdych the only break of the first set.
The 24-year-old stuttered on his first set point with a double-fault, but he drew first blood after 33 minutes with a brutal forehand winner.
When Djokovic was not shooting desperate glances at his support camp, he was shrugging his shoulders or looking accusingly at the baseline, stripped of grass after 10 rain-free days at Wimbledon.
But the momentum appeared to have shifted when Berdych failed to serve out the second set, faltering for the first time as a maiden Grand Slam final loomed into view.
It still took an incredible defensive forehand by Djokovic to do it, the Serb almost performing the splits as he stretched out wide, and Berdych netted his response.
The Czech shook off the disappointment immediately though, racing to a 6-2 lead in the ensuing tie-break, but Djokovic again fought back, saving all four set points.
The last of them brought the crowd to their feet. Djokovic looked out of the point and when his scrambled lob was called out, his hopes appeared to have finally evaporated.
Controversial point angers Djokovic
But Hawkeye confirmed the ball had caught the outside edge of the line and, despite Djokovic's pleas that the point should be his, it was replayed - the fired-up Serb taking it with a crunching backhand down the line.
They changed ends for a second time at 6-6 and again at 9-9, neither player able to take their chances before an enthralling tie-break ended in the worst possible fashion with a Djokovic double fault.
Djokovic ended the match with an extremely creditable first-serve percentage of 72, but it was his serve which let him down again in the third set.
His spirit already looked crushed and that was confirmed when two double faults in a row handed Berdych the chance to serve for the match and the Czech, in only his second Grand Slam semi-final, did so in clinical fashion.
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