In 2010, Tomas Berdych became the talk of Wimbledon when he upset Roger Federer en route to his only finals appearance at a Grand Slam event.
The Czech’s results at the All England Club have since been mixed – but with a quarter-final and last-16 run among them, there’s always the hint that Berdych still has time for a big-stage breakthrough.
There was another such reminder as the 29-year-old thoroughly outclassed Nicolas Mahut – a man who has won all three career titles on grass and is well remembered for his role in the longest match in history at Wimbledon 2010 – with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win that set up a third-round encounter with Pablo Andujar.
Taking an hour and 45 minutes to progress, the No.6 seed Berdych was a model of efficiency as he recorded 13 aces and 40 winners against Mahut, continuing a successful season in which he’s reached the Australian Open semi-finals, was a runner-up in Monte Carlo and climbed to a career-high world No.4 ranking.
In an era when many players are achieving their best results in their late 20s or beyond, the Czech believes that his hard work with primary coach Dani Vallverdu (who previously worked with Andy Murray) fitness coach Azuz Simcich and phsyio Per Bastholt, is paying off.
“I currently don’t feel to be old,” Berdych commented earlier in the week. “I'm feeling (this is a) really good time of my career. There have been many things that I have changed that I'm starts to do differently. Most of them or I would say almost all of them works pretty well, and all of them have been good options.”
Gael Monfils will also be considering some impressive possibilities, with the Frenchman hardly pausing as he dismissed Adrian Mannarino 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 45 minutes.
While Monfils’ flamboyant, high-entertainment style is yet to yield his best Grand Slam results at Wimbledon, the second-round victory highlighted the potential to improve on his three third-round showings. The No.18 seed has that opportunity when he takes on another another Frenchman, Gilles Simon, who defeated Blaz Kavcic 6-1, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1 in the second round.
With an upset of No.10 seed Rafael Nadal simultaneously brewing on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, other seeds were finding that an elevated status doesn’t necessarily guarantee a straightforward win – or even, in some cases, a win at all.
No.15 seed Feliciano Lopez could have reasonably expected a routine progression, given that he was contesting his 14th Wimbledon, and has three times been a quarter-finalist. Georgian opponent Nikoloz Basilashvili, by contrast, only played his first Grand Slam main draw match at last month’s French Open and earned his way into Wimbledon through Qualifying.
Despite those apparently disparate qualifications, the afternoon quickly became complicated for Lopez, whose 32 aces and 58 winners didn’t stop the world No.153 emerging with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win after two hours and 56 minutes.
Fabio Fognini, the No.30 seed, would sympathise. Facing the dangerous Vasek Pospisil, who won the 2014 men’s doubles title with Jack Sock, Fognini was unable to match last year’s third-round run, with the Canadian claiming a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory.
Roberto Bautista Agut, the No.20 seed, only narrowly avoided the same fate. Down two sets to big-serving Frenchman Benoit Paire, the Spaniard scraped through with a 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Andreas Seppi also needed a full five sets to progress, the No.25 seed scraping past rising star Borna Coric 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-1 in three hours and 32 minutes. A winner over Roger Federer at the Australian Open, the Italian would welcome that test ahead of his third round – his opponent is No.23 seed Ivo Karlovic, who advanced with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4),13-11 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
The marathon match – three hours and 23 minutes long, the last set alone lasted 70 minutes – also had some marathon statistics, Karlovic helped by an astonishing 53 aces and 93 winners, compared with 17 aces and 64 winners from Dolgopolov.
Viktor Troicki, the No.22 seed, continued his grass-court momentum with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 6-4 win against Aljaz Bedene, the recent Stuttgart runner-up impressing with a measured performance against the rising British star. The Serbian, who equalled his best Grand Slam result in reaching the final 16 of Wimbledon in 2012, now meets Dustin Brown, who stunned two-time champion Nadal.
