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Tomas Berdych scored a 7-5 3-6 6-1 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP World Tour finals.
Berdych was the superior player for most of the contest although he did suffer a mid-match wobble.
Despite Tsonga raising his game to take the second set, Berdych powered through the decider to join Murray on one win in the group.
In the opening set, Berdych broke Tsonga in the 11th game as the Frenchman hit two lose forehands wide to gift the game to 30 and then held to wraped up the set.
In the second set, Tsonga broke Berdych for a 3-1 lead when the Czech hit a forehand long.
At 5-3, Tsonga saved one break point before rounding out tset with yet another ace.
In the decider, Berdych saved two break points in the first game, then won five straight games to seal the win.
When asked about saving two break points at the start of the third set, Berdych admitted, “That was the [key] moment I would say of the match. Jo had some chances the beginning of the third set. I was able to hold. Then once I get my first chance in the third set, I took it. That was the difference between us today.”
Novak Djokovic has two wins from two and Tsonga is yet to get off the mark at the season-ender although all four players in the group can still make the semi-finals, depending on final round-robin matches on Friday.
“I don't like mathematics at all. I will try to play tennis, and that's it. I will try my best. But Novak just [has] shown how great he's playing right now and that he deserve to be [the] No. 1 player in the world. It's a huge challenge for me. But the other hand, he already has two wins, so let's see what's going to be in that last match.”
AP Photo/Sang Tan
