Berdych to debut at ASB Classic
Tomas Berdych will make his first appearance at the ASB Classic in January.
The former world No 4 has been out with a back injury since June, but has been confirmed as one of the star players to come to the Auckland ATP tournament next year.
Berdych, from the Czech Republic, has been at the top of the men’s game since breaking in to the world’s top 10 in 2007 and if it wasn’t for the fact that his career coincided with those of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, he would surely have won a grand slam.
He lays claim to be one of only three players to have beaten those four players at grand slams and has reached semifinals at all four grand slams.
He played in the Wimbledon final in 2010, beating Federer and Djokovic en route, before losing to Nadal in the final.
It has been a tough year for Berdych though, as he’s dropped down to 77 in the world rankings because of back problems.
He said last month he contemplated retirement because of it, but has decided to keep going.
‘‘I love the game, I like it but I want to be back on court thinking, to be in shape and needing to beat just one opponent who is on the other side of the net, not myself,’’ Berdych, 33, said.
‘‘I even thought about retirement, but then I thought it was not the case, the work I was doing would have been wasted.’’
Despite not having a good year, he still managed to defeat Fabio Fognini and Juan Martin del Potro on his way to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, where he lost to Federer.
Berdych ticks a couple of boxes for Classic tournament director Karl Budge in that he’s a big name player and also someone new for Kiwi tennis fans to watch.
Berdych’s absence from tennis for half a year played a part in tempting him to come to New Zealand as it will help him get matches under his belt before the Australian Open.