[nole_no1]

6-1 in their h2h meetings, the only time Monfils won was at Roland Garros two years ago in 5. Beside that, Monfils only managed to win one set in 6 meetings. Also the last 4 meetings outside of that RG match were impressive scorelines: 6-1 6-1, 6-1 6-4, 6-1 *3-2 ret. and 6-1 6-4 today

Even in the IPTL they played three sets this year and Berdych won everytime

 

[bobtherobot]

Cause Monfils doesn't realise that hitting loopy balls and slices don't work on Berdych, atleast not consistently. It was clear as day to see in the match just now, Monfils hitting with nothing on his shots, allowing Berdych to dictate play. The only reason he won the match in RG is because he is actually aggressive when he plays there, hence why it is his best slam. If he played similar to how he played against Federer or Dimitrov (actually dictating play) he would do much better against Berdych. I didn't see any slices against Dimitrov or Federer, then he come up against Berdych and that is all he seemed to do lol.

 

[Min son]

It must be some kind of mental thing cause he has no condfidence whatsoever against Berdych. Monfils has all the weapons to beat Berdych but It looks like Monfils doesn't believe in himself when's up against him. Monfils is a mental case.....It's really frustrating to be a Monfils fan cause he's so unpredictable:lol:

 

[bobtherobot]

It must be some kind of mental thing cause he has no condfidence whatsoever against Berdych. Monfils has all the weapons to beat Berdych but It looks like Monfils doesn't believe in himself when's up against him. Monfils is a mental case.....It's really frustrating to be a Monfils fan cause he's so unpredictable:lol:

THIS. Finally someone that is on my wave length lol.

 

[SheepleBuster]

Monfils being Monfils ... he will never do anything other than great couple of wins here or there. And people thought he would win the French this year after upsetting an injured but still beautiful Dimitrov

 

[Chokehater]

Berdych is one of the most serious customers and Monfils is one of the biggest clowns around.

 

[MWW]

There are some enigmas. Monfils playing too passive imo to disrupt the rhythm of Berdych over the long run.
To beat Berdych, you need to either overpower him (tough), or disrupt his rhythm and apply pressure on his normal game - using changes of pace, consistency off both wings on baseline, and good depth, use of angles, and decent return, something which Nadal, Djokovic and Nishikori have. Monfils can't outplay Berdych for long periods of time unless he plays this way. You can't expect to make Berdych hit UEs unless you are putting pressure on Berdych.

 

[MasterPredictor]

Monfils has arguably the worst tactics in tennis.

 

[Mateya]

Just amazing.

And this after beating Federer and Dimitrov, playing great allcourt tennis. People saying that he is too passive - how is he able to beat Federer then? :shrug:

 

[SheepleBuster]

Just amazing.

And this after beating Federer and Dimitrov, playing great allcourt tennis. People saying that he is too passive - how is he able to beat Federer then? :shrug:

He wasn't beating him often until recently. It's a mental thing with him too. And it's not like at his 100% best, he is unbeatable. Berdych is just a bad match up for him

 

[timafi]

Gael's power is enough to beat Roger and Grigor but his backhand is weak af compared to Berdych's backhand and Berdych's 2nd serve is stronger compared to Gael's 2nd serve

 

[Min son]

Monfils talks about playing against Berdych.

"Tomas is one of the players who gives me the most trouble," admitted Monfils. "I can't find, not even talking about a solution, but a way of playing that gives him trouble and that I can feel comfortable with. My game doesn't give him trouble at all. I am not even frustrated, because I knew it would happen beforehand. I hope I will find a solution someday."

Monfils said "I knew it would happen beforehand.....I don't like that mentality at all. You're not going to win if you don't even see yourself as the winner before the match has even started. I do hope Monfils will find a solution.

 

[Christian Keys]

Because Monfils' first name is Gael.

 

[lucyfur]

I think he can't overpower Berdych,I wouldn't be surprised if he had the same trouble with players like Tsonga, Delpo or Soderling.

 

[92738]

Biggest factor: ROS. Berdych has no problem returning Gael's 2nd serve. In the same time, Monfils isn't returning great, and he needs to return great against Berdych. That's why Nole breaks him to pieces.

 

[Federer-Fan]

Monfils has bad H2Hs against all big hitters : Berdych, del Potro, Tsonga, Söderling...

 

[BackhandDTL]

Monfils is an ideal player for Berdych. Gael plays heads-up tennis with him, but doesn't put as much on his ball on average. The result is that Tomas can get into a rhythm and dictate points without really exceeding his comfort zone. He can push him around long enough to work the point in his favor and ultimately close the deal.

Berdych also seems to have a handle on Monfils' serve. And Gael's own ROS, while consistent, is pretty non-threatening, so T-Bird gets the first strike more often than not.

 

[duong]

Biggest factor: ROS. Berdych has no problem returning Gael's 2nd serve. In the same time, Monfils isn't returning great, and he needs to return great against Berdych. That's why Nole breaks him to pieces.

yes in many match-up specificities the ability of one player to read and return an opponent's serve is a big key because it's a surprisingly very individual thing. And here it's one key inded as Monfils said himself after the match : Berdych returns Monfils' serve very well (which, according to Gilles Simon's own words, is a actually a tough serve to read), and Monfils has difficulty to return Berdych's serve.

Besides the bounce of Monfils' ball, quite high but not too much, seems to fit Berdych very well, whereas he doesn't like Simon's lower balls or Nadal's high spin. And Berdych is very much a player of rhythm : if he's in a good rhythm against a specific player he's very tough to beat, and Monfils' ball is clearly good for his rhythm.

And Monfils is not good at varying angles and directions then can't break Berdych's rhythm through that.

Finally, as Simon said, Monfils doesn't have a comfort zone against Berdych where he knows he can play when he's in a bad position like playing to Federer's or Dimitrov's backhand : that makes him feel comtortable against them according to Simon's words whereas he doesn't feel that against Berdych who can accelerate his backhand very much.

Finally there's of course the mental aspect which comes both from Monfils' previous tough losses, and also partly from the fact, that Berdych, according to Monfils' own words, is his favorite player to watch.

 

[Il Mancio]

Cause Monfils doesn't realise that hitting loopy balls and slices don't work on Berdych, atleast not consistently. It was clear as day to see in the match just now, Monfils hitting with nothing on his shots, allowing Berdych to dictate play. The only reason he won the match in RG is because he is actually aggressive when he plays there, hence why it is his best slam. If he played similar to how he played against Federer or Dimitrov (actually dictating play) he would do much better against Berdych. I didn't see any slices against Dimitrov or Federer, then he come up against Berdych and that is all he seemed to do lol.

this

 

[Il Mancio]

Finally, as Simon said, Monfils doesn't have a comfort zone against Berdych where he knows he can play when he's in a bad position like playing to Federer's or Dimitrov's backhand : that makes him feel comtortable against them according to Simon's words whereas he doesn't feel that against Berdych who can accelerate his backhand very much.

then he's doing something wrong, has Berdych won a single rally where he had to hit a BH against Nole? he was constantly wrong footed, hitting on his BH was almost guaranteed point apart from maybe one acceleration. I remember a commie once saying BH was Berdych's best shot, I was baffled.