2015 Season Review: Tomas Berdych

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic poses with the trophy after winning the final match against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain on day eight of the 2015 Shenzhen Open. (Photo by ATP World Tour)

Tomas Berdych is one of those players that have failed to take the next step in winning a major. While he’s been waiting to take that next step, players like Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic have leaped right past him in winning Grand Slam titles. His seasons for the past number of years are pretty similar, finish inside the top eight, win a couple of tournaments, and get deep into a major or two and a couple of Masters. Nothing too mind-boggling, but it gets the job done.

Win/Loss

The Czech number one finished the season with a 57-22 record. Despite hitting 50-plus wins once again, Berdych struggled against the world’s best and when it mattered most. He finished a dreadful 3-14 against the top ten and had a losing record in finals going 2-3.

High Points

The first five months of the season saw Berdych reach the semifinals or better in six of seven tournaments. With the help of a couple of early upsets to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the 30-year-old found himself in the final in Doha against David Ferrer but finished runner-up to the Spaniard.

At the Australian Open, he found himself in the quarterfinal against an out-of-form Nadal, but the Spaniard had picked up a cool 17 straight wins over Berdych. The world number six could not pick a better time to play the match of his life, delivering a mind-boggling straight sets win over the world number five, including a second set bagel. He’d crash out in the semifinals against Andy Murray where there was a bit of heat between Kim Murray and Berdych.

A couple of ATP 500 events in February had Berdych in the finals and semifinals again. He faltered in a second straight final, losing to Wawrinka in Rotterdam then was knocked out in Dubai 

by Djokovic.

In Miami, he met the world number two again in the semifinal, and once again, it was Murray who came out on top. He finished his hot run on the clay with a final in Monte Carlo and semifinal run in Madrid, losing to Djokovic and Nadal respectively.

Low Points

Summer has usually brought about good fortune to Berdych, but this year not so much. At Wimbledon, he was shockingly woeful in his fourth round exit to Gilles Simon, succumbing in straight sets. In both American hard courts Masters events, he won a combined two matches in Montreal and Cincinnati, crashing out to Donald Young and Alexandr Dolgopolov respectively. Another match he was favorite in was against Richard Gasquet at the US Open, and once again, he disappointed, losing in four sets to the Frenchman.

Best Results

Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych poses with the trophy during the award ceremony after defeating USA's Jack Sock at the ATP Stockholm Open. (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

We already talked about Berdych’s hot start to begin the year, but none of those tournaments culminated in titles. The Czech picked up his first title of the year in Shenzhen defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the final and picked up a second title in Stockholm over Jack Sock.

Worst Results

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic is treated after an injury during against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the Men's singles first round match on day five of the 2015 China Open. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

The horrible summer season was where the world number six saw his worst results. He bowed out to Young in the opening round of the Rogers Cup. He brought that poor form into the fall. At St. Petersburg, Simone Bolelli knocked him out in his first match and just a week after his title, Pablo Cuevas eliminated him from the China Open. Last but not least, Berdych failed to win a match at the ATP World Tour Finals, winning only one set in his three defeats.

Grade: B

A hot start to the year and quarterfinals or better in eight of nine Masters helped Berdych reach the World Tour Finals once again. It’s what we’re accustomed to seeing from the Czech throughout his career, going deep in tournaments but unable to win the big one. Barring a major collapse come 2016, look for Berdych to reach the top World Tour Finals again.