Low-key Tomas Berdych floats quietly into Australian Open third round

Czech Tomas Berdych has spent his career floating under the radar and despite storming to last year's Wimbledon final, might be the least recognisable top 10 player for many tennis fans at the Australian Open.    

His grinding 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Wednesday allowed him to move quietly into the third round at Melbourne Park but will be unlikely to burnish his profile much more. 

Not that the no-nonsense 25-year-old played blandly.  

After taking time to find his range, the big-serving baseline pounder, one of a number nipping at the heels of Roger
Federer and Rafa Nadal, dominated the 35th-ranked Kohlschreiber in a clinical display of clean hitting.                                           

Berdych, who wore a marigold shirt and almost blended in with the similarly-attired ball-kids at Margaret Court Arena, was then marched into a tiny interview room to talk to a small clutch of mostly Czech reporters.

"The start was very slow for me, but that's not the way I would like to start all the matches... It was a tough one," he said simply.   

Berdych's break-out season last year, in which he was also a shock semi-finalist at Roland Garros, has raised hopes of a first grand slam champion for the Czech Republic since Petr Korda, a one-slam wonder as famous for a drug charge and his scissor-kicking celebrations as his 1998 title at Melbourne Park.

Not that Berdych's losing Wimbledon final to Nadal brought ticker tape parades at home, as he spoke low-key of being feted by a "a couple of fans".                                                                                   

Flat hitting                                           

Like fellow beanpoles Juan Martin del Potro and Robin Soderling, Berdych has a game built on powerful flat hitting from the baseline and winds up his forehand like an Major League Baseball pitcher.     

He burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old at the 2004 Olympics where he beat Federer, a loss the Swiss described as one of the most galling of his career.

But after announcing himself with his first Masters title in 2005, Berdych promptly disappeared, hovering on the edge of the top 20 wilderness for years before charging back into the reckoning last year.                                           

Adding hustle and a slice backhand to his game, Berdych stunned six-time champion Federer and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon but was subject to a stinging 6-3 7-5 6-4 lesson by Nadal in the final. 

He has lost twice since to Nadal and admits he still has not found the answers to beat the Spaniard, who would wait in the final.                         

After Wimbledon, Berdych confessed to having no idea how to beat the Spaniard and is still searching for the answer.                                           

"As long as he's the number one in the world, it's not that easy that you would just say: 'Alright we're going to do this and do that differently''.                   

"He's not an opponent you can beat any time, of course, you need to try every time, but (he's) really not an easy opponent to play with."