Berdych survives Anderson scare
Men's Tennis,
Last updated:
Tomas Berdych survived a massive scare against South Africa's Kevin Anderson to book his place in the fourth round of the French Open.
The seventh seed took control by winning the first set but lost the next two to jeopardise his progress, only to find his form when it mattered to secure the win, 6-4 3-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4.
It was the first time the Czech had emerged victorious from a five-setter at Roland Garros, at the fifth attempt, and has now improved his record on clay this season to 17-4 with his 34th win in 2012.
It was a surprise that the match went as deep as it did as Anderson had never previously taken a set off Berdych, who hit 57 winners and converted four of six break-point opportunities.
Elsewhere, Marcel Granollers, the 20th seed, took 78 minutes to wrap up the fifth set in his second-round match against Malek Jaziri - suspended on Thursday due to bad light - winning 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-1 3-6 7-5, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sealed his passage by completing his second-round win over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2 4-6 6-2 6-1.


