Roddick mangles racquet and chances

Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych plays a return to US's Andy Roddick during a round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London. Picture: Kirsty Wigglesworth. Source: AP

Seemingly on the brink of a fifth successive victory over fellow Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, Roddick instead gifted the Czech a 7-5, 6-3 round-robin victory.

The humbling defeat was Roddick's second in two matches at the O2 Arena and he must now topple Serb Novak Djokovic to have any chance of progressing to Saturday's semi-finals.

And, having held two set points against Berdych's serve at 4-5 (15-40) in the opening bracket, Roddick was furious.

"I've beaten him (Berdych) three times this year," Roddick said.

"I have a pretty good idea what to do. Now, if you don't execute it, it makes most game plans look stupid.

"I don't think he came into the match with a lot of confidence. Being able to get through that (crisis) definitely raised his confidence level."

Roddick's dark mood was measured in the racquet he angrily brutally mangled soon after as he ranted at officials about stadium lighting.

"The neons in the back weren't quite to the settled position," he said.

"They were still advertising fun stuff. When you're trying to track a ball, it's kind of hard with neon lights and stuff.

"Then Tomas noticed it, a couple of them just went out before we played a point."

Berdych, one of the finest ball strikers in tennis, admitted he had dodged a bullet.

"I played him (Roddick) this year three times, all three times he won," the Czech said.

"I was many times in this position (facing break point).

"But not often I was able to get back, you know, just to do couple of good serves, you know, get to the deuce, then win the game.

"That's the thing what's gonna give you really a lot of, you know, the positive confidence and stuff like that.

"I just went there, serve twice pretty good, turn the game, the last pick-up volley was very tough one, and I made it.

"And then the next game just made a quick break, and that was the key of the game."

Berdych will contest his third round-robin match on Friday against world No.1 Rafael Nadal in a rematch of this season's Wimbledon final.

Nadal remains on course for a semi-final berth after beating a visually-impaired Novak Djokovic 7-5 ,6-2.

Djokovic, who also lost to the top-ranked Nadal in this year's US Open final, called for a time out early in the eighth game because of a problem with his contact lenses.

After Nadal held at love to 4-4, Djokovic left the court for a bathroom break to fix the problem, but it appeared to continue to bother him.

A few games after the break, shortly after Nadal broke Djokovic and then held to win the first set, the third-ranked Serb called for a trainer.

With medical personnel looking into both eyes, Djokovic looked frustrated as he sat in his changeover chair. He slammed a bottle of water on the court, and then slapped his hand twice into the arm rest.

When he came back on court, Nadal broke to open the second set, and then again in the third game to take a 4-0 lead.

Nadal was first to earn a break in the first set to take a 3-2 lead, but Djokovic quickly got back on serve by breaking back in the next game.

Djokovic had three more break points in the final game of the first set, but each time he failed to keep the ball in play.

Both finished the match with winners, but Djokovic had 31 unforced errors to Nadal's 15.

The combined results mean that all four players are still in the hunt for a spot in the semi-finals. The same is true in Group B, which includes Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling and David Ferrer.

Results:

Group A

1-Rafael Nadal (ESP) bt 3-Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5 ,6-2.

6-Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt 8-Andy Roddick (USA) 7-5, 6-3. 
 
Group B Doubles

Wesley Moodie, South Africa, and Dick Norman Belgium, def. Lukasz Kubot, Poland, and Oliver Marach Austria, 6-1, 6-3.