Background and career
Tomáš Berdych (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈbɛrdɪx]; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters event at the 2005 Paris Masters. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, achieved by consecutively upsetting top seed and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and world No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Berdych reached the semifinals of all four majors during his career. Berdych was one of the few players who could consistently challenge the Big Four, and is one of three players (alongside Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka) to have wins over all of the Big Four at the majors. He is the second player (after David Nalbandian) to defeat Federer multiple times at majors before the semifinal stage. As well as his Paris Masters win, Berdych reached the finals of the Miami Masters in 2010, Madrid Open in 2012 and Monte Carlo Masters in 2015. He also played the longest men's doubles match ever, with Lukáš Rosol, defeating Marco Chiudinelli and Wawrinka in the first round of the 2013 Davis Cup 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–7, 24–22. The match was played on 2 February 2013, lasting 7 hours, 2 minutes. It was the second-longest ATP match ever (singles and doubles combined).
Berdych was born in Valašské Meziříčí, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic since 1993), to Hana Berdychová and Martin Berdych. Berdych started playing tennis when he was five at the tennis centre in his hometown of Valašské Meziříčí. His father, Martin, was a train engineer and a tennis player, while his mother, Hana, is a doctor. Berdych describes his childhood as full of joy and happiness. At the age of eight, he won the top young boys' competition in the Czech Republic in Pardubice. Berdych soon became a leading junior player, winning the Czech Republic U-12 junior title. He then moved to the city of Prostějov, where there were more practice partners and better coaches. Berdych travelled back home often to maintain ties with his old school. Due to the harsh winters in the Czech Republic, winter preparation took place inside a sports hall. Berdych cites this as the reason he prefers hard courts, especially indoor conditions.
Berdych is a fan of ice hockey, and his favourite team is the Detroit Red Wings. He has met many Czech players from the National Hockey League and the 1998 Olympic gold medal team, including Martin Straka, Jaromír Jágr and Dominik Hašek. All of them are big tennis fans and have on several occasions come to Prostějov to play alongside Berdych. His favourite surface is the hard court, and he considers his strengths to be his forehand and serve. His fitness trainer is José Félix González Castilla. Berdych was in a long-term relationship with tennis pro Lucie Šafářová until they broke up in 2011. He became engaged to model Ester Sátorová in late 2014. The pair married in July 2015. Berdych is a fan of the Irish rock band U2 and would like to meet frontman Bono someday. His favourite TV show is Suits. In football, Berdych supports Manchester United.
As a junior Berdych reached as high as No. 6 in the world in 2003 (and No. 2 in doubles). He won the 2001 US Open Boys' Doubles title alongside Stéphane Bohli Junior Grand Slam results: Australian Open: 1R (2002) French Open: 2R (2002) Wimbledon: QF (2003) US Open: 1R (2001) Berdych turned professional in 2002, winning two Futures events, both in the Czech Republic, defeating Pavel Šnobel in one final and Ladislav Chramosta in the other. In 2003, after several future and challenger wins, Berdych won his first ATP Tour match at the 2003 US Open, over Tomas Behrend in four sets, but lost in the next round to Juan Ignacio Chela.
In 2004, Berdych focused on Challengers and the ATP Tour. In Challengers, he won in France and Germany. On the ATP Tour, he began with the 2004 Australian Open, defeating Nicolas Mahut in four sets, before losing to fourth seed Andre Agassi. He also earned victories over Galo Blanco, Björn Phau and Potito Starace on the ATP Tour. He made his debut in the 2004 French Open and at Wimbledon, but lost in the first round. He then played at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won in the first round against Florian Mayer and caused a major upset in the second round, defeating No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets, despite having only five ATP Tour victories. He next beat 15th seed Tommy Robredo in the round of 16, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Taylor Dent. After his run at the Olympics, he reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open with victories over Jonas Björkman, Tuomas Ketola and Mikhail Youzhny, before losing to Tommy Haas in three sets. He won his first ATP title at the Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia in Palermo, Italy, defeating David Ferrer in the semifinals and Filippo Volandri in the finals.
The start of Berdych's 2005 season brought losses in the first rounds in Adelaide, Sydney, and the Australian Open. He then lost in second rounds of Marseille, Rotterdam, and Dubai. He then recorded his first back-to-back wins in Indian Wells, including a win over Mario Ančić, but lost to Ivan Ljubičić. He then lost in the first rounds of Miami, Estoril, Rome, and London. He also reached the second rounds of Monte Carlo, Hamburg, the French Open, and Nottingham. Berdych made it to the third round at Wimbledon, losing to Taylor Dent. He had a good run with a runner-up finish in the 2005 Swedish Open to Rafael Nadal, a quarterfinal loss to Nikolay Davydenko at the 2005 Stuttgart Open and a semifinals loss to James Blake at the 2005 Washington Open. He then made it to the second round of both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters. Berdych lost in the third round of the 2005 US Open. He then lost early in Vienna, Madrid, Palermo, and Basel. At the 2005 Paris Masters, he won his first career ATP Masters Series title. En route to the final, he beat Jiří Novák, second seed Guillermo Coria, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gastón Gaudio, and Radek Štěpánek. In the final he was victorious over sixth seed Ivan Ljubičić in five sets.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
