Chennai Open: Berdych eases into last 8

CHENNAI - Top seed and World No.6 Tomas Berdych was kept on court for longer than expected as he eased past the unheralded Ivan Dodig 6-2, 6-4, to enter the singles quarter-finals of the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament here Wednesday.

The match lasted an hour and 27 minutes as the 25-year-old Czech Berdych overcame some resistance in the second set by the 88th-ranked Croatian who otherwise was outplayed for much of the contest.

“No match is easy despite what the scores might indicate. You have to work hard to make it look easy,” said Berdych.

Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist, had far too much variety and consistency in his play while Dodig spent much of the match retrieving without able to really trouble his opponent.

The 25-year-old Czech, who twice beat the iconic Roger Federer last year, stamped his authority on the match with breaks in the first, third and fifth games of the opening set and it put Dodig on the defensive.

The only hiccup for Berdych was that he dropped serve in the fourth, but it did not change the course of the set or, for that matter, the match itself.

“I made two or three mistakes in that game and lost it. Luckily, I had the advantage of two breaks and it helped,” Berdych said.

In the second set, Berdych broke in the fifth and there was not much that Dodig could do to get back into the match that ended when the Czech comfortably closed on his serve.

(Anand Philar can be contacted at anandphilar@gmail.com)