US Open 2010: Tomas Berdych loses to Michael Llodra to become first major casualty
Date published :
01 Sep 2010 - 20:41:56
Playing on his favourite surface, the Wimbledon finalist had been expected to dominate the match against Llodra, who is better known as a doubles specialist.
But Llodra sprung a surprise by winning the tiebreak and increasingly pegged back Berdych with serve-and-volley tactics.
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The 30-year-old had to call a medical timeout and grimaced as he was treated by the trainer. But when play resumed, he held held serve, broke Berdych the next game and rounded off the set with ease.
A change of shirt for the third set failed to bring a change of fortunes for Berdych, who was once again broken.
Llodra fluffed his opportunity to serve out for the match, allowing nerves to get the better of him as he lost the game to love but broke the next game for a spot in the second round.
He will now play Romania's Victor Hanescu, who was also a straight-sets winner against Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.
