French Open champion Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the second successive year on Friday. The players had trouble adjusting to the wind on Centre Court in the opening games with number two seed Nadal breaking Berdych’s serve in the second and the Czech, seeded seventh, breaking back immediately.
Nadal turned on the power in the first set tiebreak, going 5-0 up before winning it 7-1 to take the set in 58 minutes. He took control of the match then and never relinquished it.
The Spaniard broke Berdych in the opening games of each of the next two sets and again in the fifth game of the decider.
Berdych fended off the first match point on his serve but netted the third in the following game to hand Nadal a straight sets victory in just over two hours. – Reuters