Tennis-Berdych beats unhappy Bjorkman to reach quarters

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) Seventh seed Tomas Berdych continued his unassuming passage into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-0 6-7 6-0 victory over an irate Jonas Bjorkman today.

Overpowered in the opening two sets but leading the third 3-2 with a break point, the Swede was infuriated when umpire James Keothavong overruled a Berdych serve in.

''That is why you suck,'' the 35-year-old said, lambasting the umpire's decision. Last year's surprise semi-finalist branded the official ''absolutely useless'' before clawing back into the match by winning the third set tiebreak 8-6.

''He made an horrendous call... 133 mile an hour serve wide on the far end, you shouldn't even go in there,'' Bjorkman told reporters.

''There's a lot of guys out there trying sometimes to make sure that everyone can see them on the court. You don't have to interrupt the game. All of a sudden they try to be in the picture.'' The 19th seed admitted though that Berdych was too strong, and believes he has the perfect game to topple his next opponent, second seed Rafael Nadal.

The big-hitting Czech was particularly impressive in regaining his composure after the third set, speeding through the fourth set to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time.

With a 3-2 win-loss record over Nadal, Berdych is the only player remaining in the draw with a positive record against the Spaniard but he did not want to read too much into it.

''I think it's not the statistic which is the advantage. I think the advantage is that we are not going to play on clay.'' ''If we were going to play clay court, I can be 5-1 and still it's like nothing. But if we're playing hard or indoor something, then I have a chance.'' Reuters SY DB2149