Berdych Advances to Wimbledon Finals (for the Federer haters...)

Tomas Berdych, who beat Federer in a tight, four-set quarter-final match, just casually dismissed 3 seed and world #2 Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, to move into the Wimbledon Finals. While many called his victory over Federer an upset, I disagree. As a Fed fan, I had been worried about the prospect of that match-up for several rounds and was not surprised when Berdych advanced. The 6’5” Czeck bomber has always been loaded with talent but, while he has been inside or just on the cusp of the world top ten for many years, the story line on him is that he’s never quite lived up to his full potential. That seems to be changing. Berdych made it to the semis at last month’s French Open, where he narrowly lost a five-set thriller to Robin Soderling, a match in which he was up two sets to one. While the spread will show Berdych as the underdog in Sunday’s final, regardless of whether he plays world #1 Rafael Nadal or British hope Andy Murray, I think he has at least a fighting chance of landing his first major title.