Wimbledon: Tomas Berdych reaches men’s final

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In beating third-seeded Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career, Tomas Berdych accomplished something much bigger: He made it to the Wimbledon men’s final for the first time. Djokovic seemed to lose his will after dropping a well-played second-set tiebreak with a double fault on set point as Berdych went on to a 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 semifinal win Friday on a muggy afternoon on Centre Court.

After the second set, Djokovic, 23, who won the 2008 Australian Open for his single Grand Slam title, was overmatched in the final set by the 12th-seeded and 24-year-old Berdych of the Czech Republic, who had already upset top-seeded and defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

Last month, Berdych made his first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open.

‘The feeling is absolutely amazing,’ Berdych said. ‘Coming on Centre Court to reach another victory against a great player in straight sets, it is tough to describe. It’s really amazing for me. I think every young kid after the first time they hit the ball thinks, ‘This is the dream,’ to be in the final of any Grand Slam, and if you can reach it at Wimbledon, that’s the tough one.’

Berdych will play either fourth-seeded Andy Murray or second-seeded Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final.

-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England