Watch: Throwback to when Tomas Berdych shushed the Madrid crowd after beating home favorite Rafael Nadal
Tomas Berdych faced defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the 2006 Madrid Masters, the fourth meeting between the pair. Berdych had a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head coming into the match, having won their last encounters (2005 Cincinnati Masters and 2006 Canadian Open).
Seeded 11th in the tournament, the Czech took out sixth seed Andy Roddick in a third-round upset to set up the match-up. The Spaniard, on the other hand, was the second seed and came into the match with a commanding straight-sets victory over 13th seed Tommy Haas in his third-round fixture.
The Madrid crowd were firmly in the corner of their local phenom and did not shy away from making their preference clear. Every winner of the Mallorcan was met with unanimous approval and every mistake from the former World No. 4 was met with raucous cheers. Despite not having the support of the spectators, Berdych pulled off a major upset.
On this day 14 years ago, Tomas Berdych shushed the Madrid crowd after beating Nadal for the third time in a row
Nadal at the net: "That was a very bad thing to do, very bad"
It was indeed as Nadal went 20-1 in their next 21 matches, including the 2010 Wimbledon F + 7 M1000 SFs https://t.co/rYnmA7ztTe
The 36-year-old Czech player broke the 21-time Grand Slam champion's serve in the first set to take it 6-3. He then held his nerves in the second set tiebreaker to win the match 6-3, 7-6(6). Having had enough of the crowd's jeers all match, Tomas Berdych celebrated by putting a finger to his mouth and shushing them.
The Czech went on to exchange a few words with Nadal during their customary hand shake at the end of the contest and persisted with the feud even after they both shook hands with the umpire.
The former Wimbledon finalist did not cool down any time soon, raising his arms from his player's bench to rile up the crowd as well as giving a thumbs up to the small group of supporters who had turned up to cheer him on.
Speaking at his press conference after the match, Berdych remarked that he performed the shushing gesture to remind the spectators that the former World No. 1's victory was not a given in every match.
"I can understand why they want [Rafael Nadal] to win the match and the tournament, but this is not a Davis Cup where you can expect [the home favorite to win] -- not in this tournament," Berdych said, according to ESPN.
The Spaniard, on the other hand, did not think the crowd's expectations were absurd and pointed out that cheering for the local players was the norm at every tournament.
"If you play against a local player, that's normal. That's good for tennis because the public supports you," Nadal said.
Here's a video of the match's highlights, including the incident at the end, uploaded to YouTube:
Berdych ended up losing in the semifinals against Fernando Gonzalez, who in turn lost to Roger Federer in the final to hand the Swiss his 10th title of the year.
Rafael Nadal went on to win 19 of his next 20 encounters against Tomas Berdych
Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych met 20 more times on the tennis court after their encounter at the 2006 Madrid Masters and the Spaniard won all but one of them. Berdych's sole win came in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open, when he snapped a streak of 17 consecutive losses (including twice at the Madrid Masters in 2014 and 2015) against the 21-time Grand Slam champion.
On this day, 10 years ago.
Rafael Nadal celebrates his 2nd Wimbledon title, beating Berdych in straight sets. https://t.co/BcFiVk647U
They faced two more times after the clash at Melbourne Park, both of which were won by the Mallorcan to stamp his authority on their head-to-head record. Overall, the former World No. 1 has a 20-4 lead over Berdych with all four losses coming on hardcourts.