2 Responses to athens04berdych_federer_

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 22, 2025 at 1:16 pm

   Points won by each set: | 27-34, 41-38, 43-40 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   33 % Berdych – 40 of 121
   37 % Federer – 38 of 102

   The second of [1] Federer’s four Olympic Games, and for the first time he was expected to win the Gold medal which unfortunately never happened in singles (☆ quarterfinal loss in 2008, four years later outplayed in the final). In 2004 he began dominating men’s tennis, regularly defeating the strongest opposition, but in the Athens second round he was stunned by an unknown for casual fans 19-year-old Berdych [79], who was serving big with flat groundstrokes off both wings. It was rather an ugly match with very short rallies due to casual errors from both sides of the court. It seemed like a routine ‘6-4, 7-6’ for Federer, but trailing *5:6 in the 2nd set, the Swiss astonishingly committed three double faults while serving on ‘deuce’ court. In the decider Berdych began the 11th game missing five serves in a row, but held withstanding four mini-match points (three of them with winners). In the following game he converted his second match point with a backhand return winner down the line (his second point won this way in the 3rd set). Berdych quickly lost in the quarterfinal to super erratic Dent, but soon afterwards reached the fourth round at the US Open and captured his maiden title, confirming his big potential. # Eight years later in the Madrid final Federer would prevail over Berdych after an almost identical scoreline – that time the Czech fails to hold in successive sets at 5:6.

   Serve & volley: Berdych 0, Federer 3/4

   # Comparison of their two similar matches:
   Athens 2004 (2R): Berdych d. Federer 4-6, 7-5, 7-5… 2 hours 19 minutes… Total points: 111-112… Breaks: 3-2… 7, 5 pts away
   Madrid 2012 (F): Federer d. Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5… 2 hours 37 minutes… Total points: 103-101… Breaks: 4-3… 7, 7 pts away

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   July 22, 2025 at 1:17 pm

   Lendl (b. 1960) – the best player of the 80s – never played at the Olympics (in theory he could have done it twice: 1988 and 1992)
   Sampras (b. 1971) – the best player of the 90s – participated only in Barcelona ’92 (lost in the third round), he skipped the Olympics in 1996 and 2000
   Federer (b. 1981) – the best player of the 00s – took part in four successive Olympic games,
   thus it’s a blow for his legacy he never got the gold medal in singles; his four end stations:
   ☆
   Sydney ’00 (third place match): Di Pasquale 6-7, 7-6, 3-6
   Athens ’04 (second round): Berdych 6-4, 5-7, 5-7
   Beijing ’08 (quarterfinal): Blake 4-6, 6-7
   London ’12 (final): Murray 2-6, 1-6, 4-6

   Federer skipped the Olympics in Rio 2016 due to injury when still belonged to the best players in the world at age of 35

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