Tomas Berdych: "Mission impossible" to qualify for semi-finals

Tomas Berdych has conceded that he produced his "worst" performance of the year during his 6-1 6-1 defeat at the hands of Stanislas Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals this afternoon.

The loss means that to realistically stand any chance of reaching the semi-finals of the season-ending event at London's O2 Arena, Berdych must now beat world number one Novak Djokovic and US open champion Marin Cilic.

When asked about his chances of progressing, the Czech player admitted that he is now in the "worst possible situation".

"Unfortunately it was my worst match of the whole season, and I kept it for the start here in the World Tour Finals," he told reporters.

"I'm in the worst possible situation that I can ever be. I'm going to face Marin or Novak next, and the only chance to qualify is to beat them - it's almost a mission impossible, but let's try."

Berdych will return to the court for his second group encounter on Wednesday.