Wimbledon: Men's Semifinals

The final two have now been determined on the men's side for Sunday's final, pitting two of the hotter players on the tour against one another, though one with a certainly more decorated past.

Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych

The world no. 1 goes for his 8th slam title while the Czech no. 1 is playing in his first slam final.  I would be mildly surprised if Nadal didn't win but Berdych has been looking very strong beating Federer and Djokovic, nos. 2 and 3 in the world.  So next up is no. 1.  Nadal is 7-2 in slam finals, including a 1-2 record at Wimbledon with both losses to Federer (2006-7) before finally beating him in 2008.  Berdych will begin compiling a slam final record on Sunday.

Rafa leads the head-to-head record 7-3 with one win on the grass of Wimbledon.  Here are the results:

'05 Bastad (clay) F:  Nadal wins 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
'05 Cincinatti (hard) R64:  Berdych 6-7, 6-2, 7-6
'06 Canada (hard) R16:  Berdych 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
'06 Madrid (hard) QF:  Berdych 6-3, 7-6
'07 Monte Carlo (clay) SF:  Nadal 6-0, 7-5
'07 Wimbledon (grass) QF:  Nadal 7-6, 6-4, 6-2
'08 Miami (hard) SF:  Nadal 7-6, 6-2
'09 Cincinatti (hard) QF:  Nadal 6-4, 7-5
'09 Davis Cup (clay @ ESP):  Nadal 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
'10 Indian Wells (hard) QF:  Nadal 6-4, 7-6

Nadal leads in sets 18-7 and Berdych hasn't won a set from Nadal since 2006 when he beat him three times in a row on hard courts, Nadal's worst surface (especially then).  They are even 3-3 on hard courts with Nadal 3-0 on clay and 1-0 on grass, also 2-0 in 5 set matches (6-0 in sets).  The previous suggests Nadal is a heavy favorite but he only played the "en fuego" Berdych at IW and beat him in two tight sets.  We'll have to wait and see what the match brings.

The semifinal scores were:

2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. 4) Andy Murray (GBR) 6-4, 7-6, 6-4
12) Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. 3) Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-3, 7-6, 6-3

I was surprised that both these matches went down in straight sets.  I thought Djokovic would play better than he did, and Murray played well but lost points and the crucial (namely the 2nd set tiebreak) time and couldn't get over the hump.  However, it looks like both Djokovic and Murray have weathered their slumps and are back on the up and up.

Nadal now leads the virtual rankings by over 2,000 points, meaning he'll be no. 1 for awhile.  Berdych is  into the top 10 for the first time, currently at #8.  Tsonga drops out of the top 10.

Andy Roddick was the defending finalist from 2009, and was knocked out in the fourth round.