It was 29 minutes past nine on Tuesday evening when the last action of Day Two at Wimbledon 2015 was completed. Rumour has it that the match in question was being played on No.1 Court, although by then it was so dark that practically anything could have been happening out there and no one would have been any the wiser.
However, reliable witnesses (meaning this reporter, along with thousands of spectators who stayed to watch) state that Tomas Berdych closed out his first-round match against the world No.38 Jeremy Chardy with an ace, edging out the dogged Frenchman 6-2, 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 7-6(5) after three hours and 11 minutes.
It really was a tough match for the 2010 runner-up, seeded No.6 here this year. He led their career meetings 3-0 before this, and when he took the first set at something of a stroll, there was scant indication of the doughty tussle which would ensue. But suddenly Chardy was up for the fight, saving two set points in the second and then levelling the match by nabbing a set for only the second time in any of their matches.
I had this experience last year and I'm glad that I was able to learn from it
Having got that far, he refused to fold when Berdych edged the third, and right up until that very last ace from the Czech, it was a distinct possibility that the players would have to reconvene on Wednesday for a deciding fifth set.
In fact the fourth-set action felt like grimly familiar territory to Berdych, who was on the wrong end of a similar situation a year ago at Wimbledon in the third round against Marin Cilic. On that day, as on this, the light became so bad that the players were informed HawkEye could no longer function.
This year, as last, Berdych agreed to play on despite the situation. But where 12 months ago he foundered (and spookily Cilic went on to meet, and beat, Chardy in the fourth round), this time Berdych was utterly determined to make the situation work.
“I said to myself, ‘No, I’m not going to lose the match again because of this’,” recounted Berdych, who was offered the light by umpire Fergus Walsh at 8.45pm with the score on serve at 4-3 in his favour. “I had this experience last year and I’m glad I was able to learn from it. It just really felt like I was still playing that match.
It was a bit risky and I just the chance that I’m going to try to finish the set. I was in a much better position [than Chardy]. If things don’t go my way, ok – we are going to play a fifth set tomorrow. But if everything works out, then great. I have a day off and I’m back on my schedule. I just took that risk. Everything went good and I’m glad.
“But the whole match was very difficult. It was a good test for me. The conditions were extremely tough from the beginning.The shadow on the court at the start of the match with the bright sun was difficult. Jeremy played extremely well and we finished almost in the dark. Extremely tough conditions.
Definitely very tricky to see the ball. I really couldn’t see very much at the end – but enough. It was just about getting the ball on the racket and putting it somewhere. But this is just the start of the tournament and I need to keep going.”
And keep going he will, with another Frenchman as his next opponent – this time the wild card Nicolas Mahut.
