World No. 1 Rafael Nadal came from one set down to beat American eighth seed Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday.
It's also the Spaniard's first win at the O2 Arena in London, as he lost three matches in the round-robin group here last year, even without taking one set.
Nadal admitted that last year's straight defeats were still in his mind and he felt nervous at the beginning of Monday's match.
“When you start a tournament like this one that you play against the best players of the world, I said before, in the more difficult conditions for me, is the last part of the season that I normally never played my best tennis," said Nadal.
Nadal was shaking while Roddick was rocking.
The American took four points in a row to win the opening game after Nadal grabbed two break points, then claimed victory in the world No.1's first service game mainly due to the two double faults of Nadal.
But Nadal seemed finding his rhythm as the match went on. Although he was broken earlier in the second set, he managed to send one back immediately before played toughly to win the tiebreak.
"It's a very positive victory for me and very, very important," said Nadal who have never won the season finale, even though he had completed his Grand Slam titles and also got an Olympic gold medal.
Earlier, the world No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated the season finale debutant Berdych in style as he only required 88 minutes to wrap it up 6-3, 6-3.
"I couldn't ask for a better start of the tournament," said the 23-year-old Djokovic, winning the event in 2008.
Berdych 25, is the only player in the Top 10 not to win an ATP World Tour title this season. Although he defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the Wimbledon semifinals this year, he lost to the Serbian in Davis Cup semifinals later.
Berdych admitted that he felt pressure as it was his first ever match in the season finale. "If I would say no, then I would be lying. So, yes, I think you can see in the beginning that there was a little bit of, like, it affect my game a little bit," said the world No. 6 who made two double faults in the opening game and was broken easily.
Then, Berdych fought hard in the third game of the first set and finally took the game after saving four breaking points, but couldn't stop Djokovic breaking again in the ninth game.
As the semifinalist at French Open and runnerup at Wimbledon, Berdych played better in the second set but still lost it for being broken in the second game.
"If you just give him more pressure, then, you know, he could make more mistakes. But he just played solid and winning," Berdych commented on Djokovic.
保护隐私!扎克伯格3000万买4邻宅
9岁熊孩子逃票登机 前科重重轰动美国
中国土豪!黄金周在英人均花8000英镑
印度寺庙踩踏事故 至少91人死亡
贝兹娃娃厂商圆小女孩梦想 照其要求设计玩偶
美国三学者获2013年诺贝尔经济学奖
科普你:8个会让你大跌眼镜的事实
美国暂停部分对埃及援助 埃及谴责称不会投降
美国国会广场自焚男子身亡
为什么是艾丽斯•芒罗得了诺贝尔文学奖
中国文明旅游指南 不要公开挖鼻孔
爆红喵星人:美国表情帝Nala
英国超重男乘机要买两张票 座位不在一起
人生不留遗憾:今天就去做的12件事
生活期待新改变?今天推自己一把!
计划从今天开始:13招让明天更轻松
善待朋友: 怎样经营你的友谊银行
2013诺贝尔文学奖艾丽斯•芒罗名言
异地恋比你想象中靠谱的19个理由
是爱还是喜欢?小测试说出你的心
瑞士民众倾倒硬币要求每月发放基本工资
游人如织,国庆前三天上海涌入380万游客
25岁前每个人都应该拥有的25件东西
俄罗斯建立强大间谍网络 欲全面监听索契冬奥会
中国是否应该抛弃现行长假安排
品质生活 英式下午茶的前世今生
土豪有话说:有钱人不会做的5件事
禁止化学武器组织获2013年诺贝尔和平奖
美国政府关门:即使奥巴马也帮不了中国游客
美联储首位“女掌门”出炉
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |