Berdych: "I was very lucky to play with the Big 4 and for them to bring out the best in me"

Raquel Bermúdez Rodríguez | 18 Dec 2024 | 15.50

Berdych: "I was very lucky to play with the Big 4 and for them to bring out the best in me." Photo: Getty

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A couple of months have already passed since the end of his working relationship with Jiri Lehecka, a player he was helping to improve. Right at that moment, the news broke that Tomas Berdych would be the new captain of the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup. After several seasons since deciding to retire, the former world number four talks about the current level of tennis, about the Big 4, and what he thinks about having coincided with these four greats.

When did you feel the need to return to tennis after retiring?

"By the end of 2019, I felt I had had enough of tennis and needed a break, mentally and physically. I wanted to do other things, to distract myself and change my life a bit. It was the same at the end of my career; I was trying to push myself to the limit. And one day, when I felt it was enough, I said stop. Basically, the same thing happened with helping Jiri Lehecka, which happened spontaneously and naturally. After a while, the situation with the Davis Cup was exactly the same when the offer to captain the Davis Cup team came up this summer. After some time, I decided it would be a good challenge for me," explained the former tennis player in an interview with Tennis Majors.

About the Big 4 and the alliance between Djokovic and Murray

"Having these two guys on the same side will be really interesting to watch. Honestly, I am very lucky to have played against them and now to be able to see them on the same side of the court with Andy in the stands. Who knows how it will work out? I was part of that generation, but I was still the one trying to catch up with them, trying to beat them occasionally. They were truly among the closest rivals, and now they're going to be on the same team. I know them and I know how professional they are, so I'm not worried that this won't work, but it will be very interesting to see the chemistry between them."

Luck or curse to coincide with the Big 4?

"I am very realistic. My overall approach to tennis was that I could push myself to the maximum. If that meant being in the top 100, great. In the Top 50? Perfect, whatever it took. To achieve that, you need your team and all the support, but you also need your opponents. Opponents make you a better player. If you have opponents of a very high level and you don't want to lose to them, then you try to reach their level. That's basically how your rivals push you further. Otherwise, it wouldn't be necessary. So I actually think I was very, very lucky in many ways to, first of all, play against all of them and be part of this historic era; it was very special and very unique, and also that they were able to bring out the best in me."

"The best player without winning a Grand Slam"

"Honestly, I take it as a compliment. If you look at the players I competed with, things are as they are. I know I did everything I could. And unfortunately, I ended up with zero Slams, but it's okay, I am at peace with myself. And that is the most important thing in the end. I accept it. Could I have done some things differently? Probably yes, but I don't know what. It just didn't happen. But if you were to ask me if I could trade a Slam for two or three years in the top ten, I would probably say yes."

Your most honest opinion on today's tennis

"The game has changed, undoubtedly. I would say it's less creative. If you look at the Top 10 players, you don't see many differences among them. I'm not saying if it's good or bad. It is what it is because it's an entirely new generation that has basically taken over men's tennis, and that's how they play and compete. If you ask me if I could play or if I would like to face my younger self against them, I would definitely like to. It would also be a nice experience to play with all of them. These comparisons are always very difficult because they're not going to happen, so we can only debate about them. There are new guys and new styles, and we'll see how it goes. We need rivalry: it's good for tennis. The biggest one so far is between Alcaraz and Sinner, and that's the only way they can become better players. If there was only a Sinner, it would be hard to maintain motivation in the game."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Berdych: "Tuve mucha suerte de jugar con el Big 4 y de que sacaran lo máximo de mí"

ATP