Ferrer upsets Nadal to reach Paris Masters final

Paris, Nov 3 (IANS/EFE) Defending champion David Ferrer upset countryman and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-5 Saturday in an all-Spanish semifinal at the Paris Masters and will square off against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic for the championship.

Nadal was visibly unsettled in the rallies against his aggressive opponent, who showed once again how comfortable he is on the indoor hard-court surface at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy.

Ferrer came out on fire, breaking Nadal early in the first set and controlling his own service games. The 13-time Grand Slam champion finally earned a break point in the seventh game, but he was unable to capitalize and the set went to the underdog.

The world No. 4 then refused to surrender the momentum in the early part of the second set, saving four break points in the second game before breaking Nadal’s serve to take a commanding lead in the match.

He maintained that edge until the 10th game, when the pressure finally got to Ferrer and caused him to drop serve for the first time.

But Nadal then proceeded to get broken once again to go down 5-6 and Ferrer took full advantage of his second opportunity to serve out the contest.

“I’m very happy. I’m in the final again in Paris Bercy,” Ferrer was quoted as saying on the ATP World Tour’s website. “It was a very good match for me. I played maybe my best match this season. I was very aggressive with my forehand and with my shots.”

“It’s going to be a very difficult match,” Ferrer said, referring to the final against the second-ranked Djokovic, who rallied to defeat Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday’s first semifinal.

“I need to play very good to win tomorrow. I think too I have to play similar like today and take my chance if I will have one chance,” the world No. 4 said.

All eight Paris Masters quarterfinalists will be back in action at the eight-man, season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which gets underway on Monday in London.

–IANS/EFE