In his first course as captain, Tom Berdych (Valasske Mezirici, 40 years old) leads a young czech national teambut it is probably the most complete and powerful of the Davis Cup Final 8. The former world number four, semi-finalist of the four Grand Slams and Wimbledon runner-up in 2010, when he was surpassed by Rafa Nadal, is one of the most authoritative voices to talk about the new tennis, about the evolution of the sport in recent years. In Bologna, where he finalizes the preparation of his team before face Spain this Thursday (10:00, M+), Berdych, who is impressive at 1.96 meters tall, greets politely and sits down to talk for a quarter of an hour. con AS.
How is your team?
I see the team very well. I am very lucky that all my boys are healthy and feel good, that is very important. They have already done a good preparation and are having a good time here in Bologna. They are playing well, which is also a nice thing for me to see. They are preparing, everything is going according to plan, which is also very good.
It says they are healthy, are they 100%? Because they came with some physical concerns.
Yes, that was in the last few weeks, but I already met up with the guys in Czechia right at the beginning of last week. They started preparing there, I was with them there and everyone is 100% ready. There’s no problem at all, so I’ve got the full squad available to choose from for Thursday’s games, we’ll see.
The tie without Carlos Alcaraz changes a lot.
Yes, it changes a lot, but we honestly can’t do anything about it. So even thinking about it is a waste of energy, to be honest. I’m sure if he wanted to play, he would have done everything he could to be available. We are not focused on that. We’re trying to focus on our side, on the way we prepare, and that’s the most important thing for us.
Do you see Czechia as the best team in Bologna?
No, I wouldn’t say we are favorites. I would say it’s a longer-term project, honestly, because the kids are all very young. This year, I think they have already achieved something very nice by beating the United States away from home, a very difficult rival. And that is a small piece of the puzzle that they need to complete. They need to get all that experience. Of course, we would all be happy if this year was the year. But I think maybe it’s too early, honestly. But I’m not saying it’s not possible. It’s still tennis and that’s what we’re here for: trying to fight as best we can. But honestly, looking at the draw, I think probably the two strongest teams will face each other in the first round. It is what it is. So one will be the winner and I hope it’s us.
In Spain, in recent years, there have been some problems for young players to reach the top. And in your country the opposite happens. What do you think is being done well?
It’s a very, very complicated question. But I think one of the explanations is that, when you look at the number of tournaments we have in the Czech Republic, for young kids starting out, there are a lot of… I think the number of opportunities for kids to compete against each other is very important, honestly. Because every child, if they have a coach, will learn the technique, they will learn how to hit the ball. But tennis is about competing. And since it’s an individual sport, you really have to go one on one. And the best way is to do it by playing tournaments. So I think that’s something very unique in Czechia. And I think that’s why we are able to produce players. I hope it stays that way because it’s important. But, speaking of which, you still have Carlos (laughing). So you know what I mean. But yeah, I think that’s the reason.
Toni Nadal mentioned him saying that, apart from the Big Four, there were very strong rivals in his time, and that today he does not see that type of middle class. How do you explain that there is so much difference between Carlos and Jannik and the rest?
I totally agree with him. It’s a fact. It’s true.
Because you said that the Big Four pushed you to be better, and perhaps now you don’t see Carlos and Jannik improving the rest.
Maybe. Maybe it’s not the same. Don’t know. I think it will be a matter of time, because I think that now we have really reached a complete generation change. Now we really see the new generation of tennis. Novak is still there, although not so much on the front line. For the rest it is different. They have to adapt. We also saw that at the beginning when Roger arrived, no one knew what to do. He won all the Slams, everything. It was huge. So we’ll see. I think now is the time when the boys see that Carlos and Jannik are a couple of steps ahead. And we will see if the others react, if they will be able to try to reach them and fight. But yes, what Toni said is true. I was looking at some statistics and numbers from the games, and it’s curious because, last year, Carlos finished third in the world, and his record was 54 wins and I don’t know, eight or ten losses. (there were 13). And when I look back at my years, when I finished in the top-10, the least I had was 54 wins. When I was 66, I was seventh in the world. So imagine: I had like 10 more wins and he’s third. But hey, I think it no longer makes sense to compare because the generations are too new. They are writing their own chapter. That’s up to them now. And that’s it. We now do what we do.
There is talk in many places that Mensik may be the “new Berdych”. Do you agree with the comparison?
Well, maybe I see a couple of things that may be similar, but I also see a couple that are maybe different or maybe not. They are different, but in a good way too. It will be very interesting to follow his career. He had a great result in Miami. Then things slowed down a bit, but obviously that’s the way it is. It’s the process. So now I think there are interesting and exciting times ahead for him. And yes, it would be nice. It would definitely be nice to see someone at that really high level, with good consistency, making it to the quarterfinals and things like that. That would be nice.
These days, again, the calendar is one of the main topics. In the Finals, people like Jannik and Carlos said that playing Davis every two years would be better. You also had tight schedules, but perhaps before you didn’t talk as much. Do you think these complaints are greater today, but that the problem has existed for years?
Yes, I think there are two things that are combined and I would separate them. Let’s start with the easiest one, the subject of the Davis Cup. I agree. We should go back to the old format. In my time we had many conversations about what we liked or didn’t like about the Davis playoffs. I don’t know what the others said. I’m sure no one said they liked this format. Maybe one or two. I was one of those who said: keep the same format. At best five, three days, and I said to do it every two years. So what someone is now proposing, “we should do that,” was on the table five, seven years ago. That on the one hand.
And, on the other hand, regarding the number of games, I honestly do not agree. I think we’re talking too much, to be honest. Because, as I told you, it is very easy, especially today with all the statistics, to follow the number of games that there were a few years ago and compare it with now. We are seeing that tournaments are getting longer in the sense that you play a best-of-three match, you have a day off, another best-of-three match. In the past, when you went to a Masters Series or a 1,000, being seeded you could play the first round against a top-50 because the draw was smaller. In those seven days you played six games, and the worst opponent was a top-50 player! And it was day after day. So, honestly, I wouldn’t get too into that topic.
Lastly, there are all the opportunities for players with exhibitions, which again, I’m not against. That seems fine to me; Players can do whatever they want, play as many exhibitions wherever they want. But then they can’t see it as something that competes with what they want to do. Are you chasing the money or are you chasing the Slams? It’s very simple: you can’t do everything. It’s impossible. So one thing or another, or try to make it square. Because I have also seen, and I am sure you have too, when the season ended and Rafa and Roger went to South America for a month… Have you ever heard Rafa say “oh, we were in South America and it was very long”? No, I don’t think so. So I think it’s just a little more talk than necessary.
Were you surprised by Davidovich’s absence in Spain?
I’m not part of that. I have my own team to take care of. And I don’t really know all the details of what it was like. So I am not in a position to judge, to say what is good, what is bad, how it should be or not. We take it as a fact. He’s not here, he’s not playing. We’re still facing an extremely tough team and that’s it. I don’t want to be speculating, only the two of them, David and Davidovich, know what it was like. They made their decisions and I have to respect that.
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