David Ferrer shocks Rafael Nadal to reach Paris Masters final

David Ferrer

David Ferrer will not be grudged his victory over Rafael Nadal. The affable man from Valencia finally found the faith and resolve to overcome his compatriot and nemesis 6-3, 7-5 in a gripping match. The victory enabled Ferrer to reach the final and retain hopes of defending the only Masters Series title he has ever won in his career. Nadal threatened to mount a stirring fightback when he prevented Ferrer from serving out the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Ferrer showed remarkable composure to eke out a well deserved victory.

The diminutive Spaniard was gifted three errors off the normally reliable Nadal racket in the fourth game of the first set. Nadal saved the first with a service winner, but Ferrer made it stick with a confident backhand stroke that forced the error off Nadal at the net, to take the first break of the match.

The world No.3 gained a comfortable 4-1 lead when he held serve in the next game to keep the pressure firmly on Nadal. Sensing the urgency, Nadal stepped his game up in the seventh game. But when the world No.1 failed to convert his first breakpoint, Ferrer took advantage of Nadal’s errant forehand to hold serve to take a commanding 5-2 lead.

Serving to stay in the set, Nadal was once again troubled by Ferrer’s pace and direction. When Nadal found the net with a sliced backhand, Ferrer had three set points. A sense of desperation brought the best out of Nadal to the fore, as he made his first serve work for him to win five in row and keep the set alive.

Ferrer did well to remain unfazed as he went on to earn another three set points, this time on his own serve at 5-3, 40-0. The tentativeness that long dogged Ferrer in his contests against Nadal, came to the fore again when he double faulted on the first opportunity. Fortunately, he put that behind him quickly to produce a stunning forehand cross court pick up at the net to clinch the set in 37 minutes.

A spectacular forehand up the line winner by Nadal in the second game of the next set reminded Ferrer of the task at hand. Nadal stung repeatedly with his forehand to earn three break points to snatch control of the set, but Ferrer fought with typically dogged resilience to claw his way back to deuce.

But Nadal struck another forehand winner to gain a fourth break point, only to see the tape steal it from right under his nose. Eventually, Ferrer managed to stave off his opponent and hold serve with a forehand winner and an ace to stay even at 1-1.

Maybe Ferrer’s resilience bothered the normally stoic Nadal. He made a series of uncharacteristic errors to court the net thrice in a row as he stumbled to 0-40 in the third game. Ferrer wasted the first with a long forehand, but Nadal helped him immediately by sending a forehand wide to gift a break of serve.

It must have done a world of good to Ferrer’s confidence when he survived a nerve wracking sixth game, which lasted fifteen points before he could hold serve. With Nadal keeping his end tight, it boiled down to Ferrer holding serve in the tenth game to clinch only his fifth victory in 25 matches against the illustrious Majorcan.

Rafael Nadal

Ferrer began on a confident note, thumping an inside out forehand winner to begin the game. But Nadal won the next two points to pile the pressure on Ferrer. The world No.3 suffered a crucial miss, when he sailed a forehand wide to offer break point to Nadal. And as has happened many times in the past, Ferrer failed to close out the match when he dumped a backhand in the net.

The match isn’t over till the last ball has been played and no one believes it with as much conviction as does Nadal. The break of serve helped the world No.1 to draw level at 5-5 and the match threatened to wear a different colour altogether. Ferrer was still hustling around the baseline with enthusiasm, but it was Nadal who was finding the lines.

But resilience is a virtue, never in short supply with Ferrer. The little Spaniard played a sensational rally at 30-30 in the next game, long enough to extract a backhand error from Nadal and a break point. Another long rally ensued and Nadal flailed a forehand long to offer Ferrer a second chance at victory.

Just as the second set went past the hour mark, Nadal sailed a cross court backhand wide to offer two match points to Ferrer. This time, he ensured there was no slip up as he struck a powerful forehand up the line winner to clinch victory and reach the final for the second year running.

Barring the final stages of the second set, when Nadal mounted a counter offensive, Ferrer was largely in control of the match. The defending champion had an impressive evening – scoring ten more winners (29) and making five less errors (20) than his opponent.

Besides, Ferrer showed a healthy appetite to mix things up – running to the net a surprising 18 times and winning all but four of those points. Ferrer also saved all but one of the seven break points faced while breaking the Nadal serve five times to take charge of his destiny.

The final on Sunday will be contested between Ferrer and Djokovic, who had defeated Federer in an earlier match. The two have played fifteen times, with Djokovic enjoying a 10-5 advantage. But Ferrer’s last victory over the Serbian came indoors when the two met at the 2011 World Tour Finals in London. So he must take spirit from that and a rare victory over Nadal to make a committed effort in the finals on Sunday.