Berdych likely to better old rival

ATP Rotterdam
Sky Sports 1, 10am Thursday

Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet do battle for the 16th time in their lengthy careers when they meet in the last 16 of the ATP World Tennis Tournament.

This is their first meeting since Berdych prevailed last year in Shenzhen and that match followed a similar pattern to their recent encounters as Gasquet lost out in a competitive contest. That marked a fifth win in six matches for the Czech and he appears to have the edge over his familiar foe.

Berdych looks in good shape on his return to action in Doha - finding only Andy Murray too strong in the semi-final - before eventual champion Roger Federer stopped him at the Australian Open.

Gasquet made the final in Montpellier last week but the Frenchman may have focused his efforts on retaining the Open Sud de France title. He lost in final to Sascha Zverev and this tournament might be something of an afterthought for him.

Second-round opponents don't come much tougher than Berdych and he has the ability to beat Gasquet.

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