Andy Roddick defeated Tomas Berdych to claim the 2010 Sony Ericsson title in Miami, not by learning to hit harder, but by using a more strategic and tactical approach.

Of the many mental punches AndyRoddick gave Berdych throughout their two set rumble over the weekend, there were two main strategic blows that were most responsible  for Tomas taking home the consolation prize instead of the one given to the last man standing.

Strategy: #1: Mixing It Up.

Strategy: #2: Go Low.

Strategy#1: You always hear how important it is to mix things up on your opponent in order to keep them on their heals and off balance, right?

Well, if you saw any part of the match between American darling Andy Roddick A.K.A A-Rod and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic this past weekend in the Sony Erricson Open, you got a chance to see a great example of this fundamental strategy worked to absolute perfection.

This past Sunday in Miami, Andy Roddick showed that the “mix it up” saying isn’t just a bunch of coaching mumbo-jumbo that your instructor tells you in practice to sound like they know what they’re talking about .

Now, if you’re wondering if this is the same Andy Roddick that has been known to serve over 140mph… the Andy who is predominantly known as a fiery lightning rod with a thunderous serve and very powerful ground game – one that is almost guaranteed to make anyone take notice (fans and top-seeded opponents alike).  Absolutely… It is the same Andy – Andy Roddick.

Except this Andy Roddick showed he’s more than just a one dimensional player.  Against Berdych, he changed his usual power game approach and toned his aggression down a notch.

By doing that, he demonstrated how going after power shot after power shot after power shot isn’t always the best pathway in getting the win.

On Sunday, it was quite the contrary.  Andy Roddick’s *softest* shots actually made the biggest impact. He disrupted Berdych’s ability to gain a rhythm by hitting delicate backhands, high-looping forehands that seem to just hang in the air and altered his first serve with varying speed, spin, and angle (..instead of incessantly going after the flat-bomb that we so often see).

And it wasn’t just the fans and commentators who noticed this type of play frustrating Berdych. He openly confirmed the idea and named Andy’s serve as one of the main culprits when he said…

“He [Andy] was just too strong today,” “He’s not just serving the big bombs. His variations of the serve are a really big improvement. … I was really looking for maybe to get one chance, but he held pretty well. I didn’t get any chance during whole match.”

The reason why Berdych found it so difficult to play and gain any ground in that final match was that Andy Roddick was desperately working on (…and had obviously achieved) a goal that every player should be looking to obtain  – unpredictability!  As a player, we love to be able to figure out what our opponent’s tendencies are.

We love patterns. Those patterns allow us to develop our own plan of attack (…what shots to use, how to cover the court better, our foundation, etc.) to make properly counter.

Our muscles get used to the movements to whereby we can do them with less thought and/or concentration. And things feel much more natural.

But Berdych didn’t have that. He wasn’t given that luxury. Why? Because Andy Roddick kept switching things up. He wasn’t allowed to just stand there, set up and execute in the same position, preparing for the same type of ball point after point as if he we’re drilling in practice.

Andy Roddick Confused Tomas’ Mind And Body:

His mind and body we’re consistently being uprooted and sent on the move – leaving him no time to regroup and gather himself. So before he knew what hit him, he was physically and mentally exhausted! As a result, Andy seemed to always be a step or a shot ahead – which consequently left Tomas a shot… a move.. or a step behind.

And hey, I don’t care who you are or what kind of game you have… If you can’t gain your footing and you’re playing catch-up throughout, the odds are are going to be heavily stacked against you pulling anything out. Yea, even if you you’re  a seasoned vet like Tomas Berdych.

It happens to all of us. We need balance. We need to find our groove if we want to be successful. And Tomas couldn’t attain it. By the ninth game, Berdych was so confused and disoriented, he even lost track of the score and even lined up to play a point on the wrong side.

I mean, Wow how often do you see that happen? So yea, Andy Roddick had him mentally rocked! He couldn’t settle in.

Strategy #2: The second key strategy Andy Roddick used was when he cut him down with his slice.  Now, why would the slice shot be a good decision here? Well, Andy noticed a major weakness in Berdych – not in his game but in his F-R-A-M-E.

Berdych being almost as tall as Kobe Bryant, standing at 6-foot-5, does have it’s advantages in that he has a longer reach laterally… B-U-T he also had a glaring flaw. When you’re that tall, it’s very hard to hit balls that are low, because he has to reach much further downwards to make contact with balls that rise much or take high bounces.  It’s a lot more demanding on his body.

So given that fact, what did Andy do? He bombarded Berdych with slice backhands. And when I say that, he just didn’t give him one and forget about it. He saw it was a major weakness, so he executed slice backhand after slice backhand  after slice backhand – over and over and over AND OVER again!

He was relentless!  As a result, Tomas was forced to hit the ball at ankle level, stealing almost all the power from his massive forehand.  Oh, and not only did this hurt him physically (…body strain), it most likely affected him mentally as well.

Because when you’re forced into very unpleasant positions time and time again, and begin to string together a few lost points in a row, you may begin doubt the fact if you can ever emerge from that circle of terror, if you will.  Like there’s no hope…. Like at the end of the tunnel so to speak.  All hope is lost. Ahhh, you get the picture .

And shortly thereafter, sure enough, he cracked. Well, he was broken .  The match officially turned two games later, when Roddick reached the first break point of the match. He broke when Berdych hit a forehand out out bounds, then held at love to take the first set.

That was part of a streak where Andy Roddick won five consecutive games. He broke again to start the 2nd set. After that, the match was pretty much just a matter of time. Then, a few games later, Andy Roddick had done it.  Roddick beat Berdych 7-5, 6-4 to win the Sony Ericsson Open.

And with this win, Roddick, who made the final in Indian Wells last month, has more match wins than any other player in 2010 with 26.  The 2004 champion becomes only the fifth man to win the Miami title twice.

Roddick joins Andre Agassi (6), Pete Sampras (3), Roger Federer (2) and Ivan Lendl (2) as multiple winners in Florida.  When it was all said and done, Roddick offered reporters this quote,  “I’ve been able to have a game plan and execute it regardless of what kind of shots it takes.”

So… What’s the moral of this story? (A) Don’t give your partner the same look over and over again. And (B) If you’re playing a giant of the court, make him go low with a steady diet of the slice shot!

Have a great one guys!

Brian Hall, Head Coach
TennisMindCamp

Tagged as: andy roddick defeats tomas berdych, andy roddick strategy, andy roddick wins sony ericsson, sony ericsson open 2010, tomas berdych