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 Online video Ranking: / 5

Ferrer Video Rating: / 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.

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.

Talking to the reporters after winning the title, Nadal said, “This was perhaps my best performance after the comeback. I put up a dominant performance against the no. 4 player in the world and I am glad about it.”

“This week has really been fantastic for me. I played some good tennis in this competition. My form is good at the moment and I am looking forward to the upcoming tournaments.”

On the other hand, Ferrer looked frustrated in the post match interview. Even though many had been expecting him to lose, and indeed there was a Unibet bonus for anyone betting on him beating Rafa Nadal, he was left frustrated and disappointed at how the game panned out.

Ferrer said, “There are always a few bad days here and there and it was one of those days. I never managed to get going. I want to congratulate Rafa. He was in sublime touch and he gave me no chance. However, I played quite decently in this tournament and I am going from here with a positive frame of mind.”

Nadal looked in awesome nick right from the start. In the opening set, he secured a bagel with the help of three serve breaks.

Nada began in the same fashion in the next set as well. He got a breakthrough in the first game and with a serve hold in the 2^nd game, he was off to a 2-0 lead. In the next 4 games, neither of the two men dropped his serve and the score was 4-2 in Nadal’s favour before the start of the 7^th game.

Nadal broke Ferrer’s serve in the 7^th game and then, secured his win by serving out the 8^th game.

Ferrer Movie Rating: 4 / 5

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 Online video Score: 5 / five

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 Movie Ranking: 4 / 5