FERRER MISSES OUT

David Ferrer has been defeated by Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the second round of the ongoing Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2013. Tursunov won the match in three sets by 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

Ferrer was given the top seed in this tournament and he was also playing on his home soil. So, he was the hot favourite to win the contest against Tursunov. But, that didn’t happen. A superb all round performance by the Russian veteran stunned Ferrer as well as the local fans.

In the post match interview, Tursunov said, “It was certainly not David’s best day in the office. He didn’t play as well as he is capable of. He was the favourite here because he is a very good clay court player and also because of his ranking, but, he gave me quite a few opportunities and I capitalized on them.”

In the first 10 games of the first set, both the players dropped their serve twice and the scores were equalized at 5-5 when the 10^th game got finished. Tursunov got his third breakthrough in the set in the 11^th game and this time, he made sure that he wouldn’t be broken back. He held his serve in the 12^th game and sealed the first set by 7-5.

Ferrer had a poor beginning in the second set as well. His serve was broken in the very first game of the set. However, the top ranked Frenchman broke back in the 4^th game to equalize the proceedings. In the next three games, both the players held their serve and at the end of the 7^th game, Ferrer was leading by 4-3.

Ferrer broke Tursunov’s serve for the second time in the set in the 8^th game and then, by winning his next service game, he wrapped up the set.

In the final set, Tursunov was on fire. He got a breakthrough in the second game to take a lead of 2-0.

The Russian player dropped his serve in the 3^rd game, but, that was the only game that he lost in the set.

With a couple of breakthroughs (in the 4^th and the 6^th game), he won the last four games successively and became the winner of the match.

FERRER WINS

David Ferrer has defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy in the third round of Sony Open. Ferrer won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 7-5.

This was Ferrer’s 6^th match against Fognini. The Spaniard has won all of them.

Ferrer is ranked 5^th in the world at the moment, but, because of the fact that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are not playing in this tournament, he has been given third seed. He was the clear favourite in yesterday’s match. He didn’t let his fans down and played fabulous tennis to make his way into the 4^th round.

Ferrer was in astonishing form right from the start. He broke Fognini’s serve in the second game of the first set to get ahead by 2-0. A serve hold for Ferrer in the next game enhanced his lead to 3-0.

The second breakthrough for Ferrer came in the 6^th game which took him ahead by 5-1. Ferrer won his next service game comfortably and that was the end of the set.

Ferrer committed only six unforced errors in the first set, while, Fognini committed 17.

In the second set, both the players won their first two service games and the scores were equalized at 2-2.

Ferrer broke in the 5^th game to take a lead of 3-2, but, this time, Fognini didn’t let him capitalize on that lead. He broke back immediately and made the score 3-3.

The next 4 games went with the serve. The set was heading towards a tie breaker. But, Ferrer didn’t let that happen. He broke again in the 11^th game and then, held his serve in the 12^th game to win the second set and the match as well.

In the fourth round, Ferrer will play against Kei Nishikori of Japan.

FERRER FALLS TO NADAL

David Ferrer has been defeated by his countryman Rafael Nadal in the final of Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Nadal won the match in the straight sets by 6-0, 6-2.

This was the second consecutive title won by Nadal in the ongoing season. He had won Brazil Open as well a few days back.

This was Nadal’s 17^th victory over Ferrer. Both these players have played 21 matches against each other so far. Read more »

FERRER WINS IN COPA CLARO

David Ferrer has defeated Agustin Velotti of Argentina in the first round of ATP Copa Claro. Ferrer won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-1.

Ferrer’s recent form has been pretty good. He had won the title in Auckland last month as well and looking at his performance against Velotti, one can expect him to go all the way in this tournament as well.

Ferrer has been given top seed in this tournament, while, Velotti was given entry through wild card.

In the match against Velotti, Ferrer began well. He got a breakthrough in the fourth game of the first set and took a lead of 3-1. In the next two games, both the players held their serve and Ferrer was leading by 4-2 when the sixth game got finished.

Velotti bounced back with a serve break in the seventh game. The Argentinean needed to hold his serve in the 8^th game to level the scores, but, he didn’t succeed in that. He dropped his serve and Ferrer got ahead by 5-3. The ninth game was easily served out by Ferrer which sealed the set in his favour.

Ferrer started the second set in a better way than the first one. He broke Velotti’s serve in the 2^nd game and then, with a serve hold in the next game, he made the score 3-0 in his favour.

Velotti held his serve in the 4^th game, but, that remained the one and only game won by him in the set. Ferrer broke the service of the Argentinean player again in the 6^th game and held his serve in the 7^th game to finish off the match.

In the post match interview, Ferrer said, “It was really a satisfying performance. Especially, I am happy with the way I played my return shots today.”

FERRER MOVES UP

Rafael Nadal has been the no. 1 tennis player of Spain since a very long time, but, his position might be taken over by David Ferrer in the near future. Rafael Nadal is currently at no. 4 in the ATP men’s singles ranking, while; David Ferrer is at no. 5. But, there is not much difference between these two as far as the ranking points are concerned. Nadal presently has 6690 ranking points, while, Ferrer has 6505 ranking points. If Ferrer starts the upcoming season on a winning note, he might go ahead of Nadal in the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.

Ferrer’s performance in the last season was quite impressive. He won 76 matches in the 2012 season and lost only 15. He won a total of seven titles in the last season. However, he didn’t manage to win any Grand Slam, but, it was certainly a fantastic season for him.

Ferrer will start the next season by participating in the Heineken Open which is going to be played at Auckland, New Zealand. Ferrer had won this tournament in the last season and he would like to start the 2013 season by defending his title at Auckland.

The Heineken Open will be played on the hard courts and playing in that tournament would be a good preparation for the Australian Open. If Ferrer manages to win the Heineken Open again and then, makes his way into the quarter finals of the Australian Open, he would earn sufficient points to overtake Nadal in the rankings.

But, Ferrer has said that he is not focussed on rankings at the moment. The Spanish no. 2 said, “I just want to make a good start to the season. If I play well, the ranking will take care of itself.”

FERRER GOES THROUGH

David Ferrer has defeated Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in his first Round Robin match of the ATP World Tour Finals. Ferrer won the match by 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Ferrer has now won his last 11 matches on the trot.

Ferrer is in group B along with Janko Tipsarevic, Del Potro and Roger Federer. Federer also won his first match against Janko Tipsarevic earlier today and he is at the top of the Group B points table at the moment as he lost lesser games as compared to Ferrer.

Ferrer has come into this tournament with fine form. He has recently won a couple of tournaments in the form of BNP Paribas Masters and Valencia Open 500. The Spaniard continued his good form and defeated Del Potro quite comfortably.

Ferrer started the match pretty well. In the first three games of the first set, both the players held their service and Ferrer was ahead by 2-1 at the end of the third game.

Ferrer got a breakthrough in the fourth game and then, held his service in the next game to make the score 4-1. The Spaniard didn’t lose the advantage after that and served out seventh and the ninth game to win the first set by 6-3.

In the second set, Ferrer looked off colour and played a number of rash shots. He lost his service in the fourth game and didn’t manage to make a comeback after that.

But, in the third and final set, Ferrer lifted the standard of his game. The first eight games of the third set went with the serve and the match was evenly poised at thas point of time. But, in the ninth game, Del Potro didn’t manage to carry on his good work and lost his service. Ferrer only had to hold his service in the next game to win the match and he did exactly that.

Ferrer will play his next match against the Swiss superstar Roger Federer.