Llodra surprises No. 7 Berdych in straight sets

The men's draw received its first significant shakeup on Wednesday, as Michael Llodra served, volleyed, sliced and diced Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych out of the US Open, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4.

The 35th-ranked Frenchman kept the No. 7 seed off balance throughout the match by coming in off his first and second serve and mixing things up enough off the ground to secure breaks in the second and third sets.

Early on, the tussle between Llodra's old-school, serve and volley tactics and Berdych's booming groundstrokes was played to a virtual stalemate, as neither man faced a break point in the opening set. The server won a clean sweep of the points over the last five games leading into the tiebreaker.

With a 2-1 lead in the breaker, Llodra chipped and charged off a Berdych second serve and came up with a volley too deep for his Czech opponent to get back into play. Llodra won all five of his service points in the tiebreaker, and won the set when Berdych hit a forehand long.

Over 16 service games, Llodra faced only three break points, all in the crucial fourth game of the second set. After getting a lucky tick off the net cord and then hitting a deft, backhand, half volley to get out of 15-40, Llodra saved another break point before retreating to his chair and calling for the trainer. After an injury timeout to treat the 30-year-old's left foot, he finished off the game for 2-all.

Berdych's next service game started with Llodra's miss-hit lob landing in, and a double fault later made it 0-40. A Berdych error gave Llodra the break, and the Frenchman held at love for three straight service games to take a two-set lead.

With the shade not yet reaching the court on an oppressively hot afternoon, Berdych bailed himself out of early trouble in the third set by saving four break points, before holding in the opening game. In the fifth game, Llodra, who by this time had won the admiration of many in attendance, hit a low slice return to go ahead 0-30. He followed with a dynamic, backhand, passing shot cross-court to set up double break point.

After earning the break, Llodra kept Berdych at bay with well-placed serves. He followed up with smart plays from the net, closing out without ever having his serve broken.

Llodra will meet Victor Hanescu of Romania in the second round.