By Chris Oddo | Thursday February 18, 2016
Tomas Berdych worked his way past Alexander Zverev and into the Marseille quarterfinals.
Photo Source: Open 13
Tomas Berdych was tested by in-form 18-year-old Alexander Zverev in Marseille today but came through with a late break to secure his spot in the quarterfinals at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
“Today was a hard one for me,” said Berdych. “I really had to fight until the last point.”
In his second meeting with Zverev, Berdych broke critically in the eighth game of the first set to take a 5-3 lead then fired a forehand winner on his first set point to seal the opener.
But Zverev hung in and took advantage of an ill-timed double-fault from Berdych on break point to grab the break and a 5-3 lead in the second set. The youngest player in the ATP top-100 (currently 56) made good on his chance and served out the set, rifling a giant serve out wide that Berdych could not handle on set point to level things at one set apiece.
In a wild third set, Berdych looked to be marching to victory with a break in tow, but he failed to convert two match points and allowed Zverev to break back for 5-4.
Zverev held for 5-all and even had a look at a break point for 6-5, but Berdych played courageously to avert a major crisis. He came in behind a big forehand and knocked off an overhead smash to save it, then completed the hold. The second seed would then serve out the match to 15 to wrap up the encounter in two hours and seven minutes.
“He’ s a great player,” Berdych said of Zverev after the match. “He’s growing week by week and playing some really good tennis. … It was a great battle and I’m really happy to go through.”
The 30-year-old Czech will face David Goffin in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Other winners in Marseille on Thursday were Nick Kyrgios, who eased past Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-4 to book a quarterfinal with third-seeded Richard Gasquet, and eighth-seeded Benoit Paire, who edged Vincent Millot in three sets to set up a last-eight clash with top-seeded Stan Wawrinka.
Gasquet improved to 4-1 lifetime against Ernests Gulbis with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over the 2014 champion. Gasquet owns a 4-1 lifetime edge against Kyrgios which includes two epic battles at Wimbledon.