TAG | David Ferrer
Rafael Nadal wins his seventh Barcelona Open men’s tennis title by defeating Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6(1), 7-5. On the clay court of Barcelona, it was Nadal’s 34th successive match victory and his triumph came a week after he secured an eighth Monte Carlo Masters crown.
In the final of this ATP World Tour clay-court tennis tournament, it is the fourth time that Nadal has beaten Ferrer. He lifted the trophies from 2005-2009 and 2011-2012. After the win, Nadal said that it is almost unimaginable to win here seven times. He added that it is special tournament for him, at home in my club. He said that it is always more special to win at home in front of the people you know.
The world No. 2 becomes the only man to win two ATP events more than seven times each. He now has 48 career titles. He became the first player in the open era to win two tournaments seven times, after the thrilling win at Barcelona Open final.
Nadal came out on peak in a clay court slugfest between the nation’s two finest players that wowed the capacity crowd in the Catalan capital, in a repeat of last year’s title match and 10 years to the day since he made his World Tour debut. It was the 25-year-old French Open champion’s 48th career title and his 34th triumph on his beloved clay.
In a closely fought first set, sixth-ranked Ferrer went toe to toe with his Davis Cup teammate but failed to convert five set points on his opponent’s serve when leading 6-5. He faded poorly to lose the tiebreak 7-1.
He looked spent at that stage but after losing his serve to fall 3-1 behind managed to conjure the energy to break back, meeting Nadal for a fourth time in the Barcelona final and chasing an ATP-best fourth title this year.
He again failed to convert when it counted and Nadal produced perhaps the shot of the tournament to help break the Ferrer serve and level at 5-5, although he drew on all his famed stamina and persistence to carve out a 5-4 lead.
On a Ferrer drive to lift the ball high over the net, he just managed to get a racket before anticipating his rival’s smash and playing a phenomenal return that astonished his opponent into proffering up a simple volley. For Ferrer, that appeared to be the final straw and Nadal reeled off the next three games. Nadal sealed victory with a backhand winner before soaring into the air to rejoice.
ATP World Tour · Barcelona Open · David Ferrer · Rafael Nadal
Andy Murray slumped to a straightforward defeat to Roger Federer and he faces a shoot-out to qualify for the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP Tour Finals.
Federer was “a bit shocked” by Murray’s inability to put him under pressure. He admitted in an on-court interview his shocking experience, as he strolled to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Off the Federer serve, the Scot won only eight points, although he is considered to be one of the best returners in the sport.
Murray will battle against David Ferrer of Spain to reach the semi-finals after just losing out on the knockout stage last year.
A disappointed Murray said, “I did the two most important things in tennis very poorly today, which is serve and return. And against someone as good as Roger, you can’t do them badly. You’re not going to win the match. That’s why the scoreline was like it was.”
However, the criticisms that the 23-year-old Scot was “flat” and that his body language was poor, were dismissed by him. He said, “If I went out there and I smashed the racket or started shouting, everyone would say to me: ‘You were in a bad mood today, mentally you weren’t strong enough’. In the match against [Robin] Soderling, I was very quiet, as well. I didn’t really show much emotion on the court. I tried to do the same thing today.”
However, in one hour 16 minutes of extreme discomfort for Murray, the clash built up as one of the contenders for match of the tournament spluttered. With a place in the semi-finals on the line, Murray now faces Ferrer, the 28-year-old Spaniard. Ferrer has lost the only match on hard court, although he has beaten Murray three times on clay.
After the end of the match, Federer said, “Sometimes it is hard to play a perfect match against each other when there’s a huge excitement around it. I’ve struggled with it in the past. Maybe that’s what happened to Andy today.”
He added, “He’s improved again the last year and had another exceptional season. I don’t see any reason why he is not going to qualify for the semi-finals. Today was a bad day for him, but it’s far from over.”
Andy Murray · Barclays ATP Tour · David Ferrer · Roger Federer
The quarterfinals of the 2010 World Group Davis Cup were played out on multiple continents, between July 9 and 11. Among the last eight remaining teams, there were expected victories, nail biting clutch wins and shocking upsets. The tennis tournament news were as exciting as the matches.
In a surprising 5-0 sweep, last year’s winner Spain was eliminated by the underdog French team. The French secured a spot in the World Group semifinals by managing to play some great tennis, although the first three matches were very close.
David Ferrer was defeated by Gael Monfils in five sets, on the first day and then in an upset of four sets, Fernando Verdasco lost to Michael Llodra. The next day, against the lefty duo of Feliciano Lopez and Verdasco, Julien Benneteau teamed up with Llodra to win the doubles match in four sets. France defeated Spain in Davis Cup for the first time in 80 years.
David Nalbandian was the hero of tie between Argentina and Russia clash. Against Nikolay Davydenko, Nalbandian won his first rubber and his fifth against Mikhail Youzhny. Nalbandian’s focus was not affected by the Russian crowd and both victories came in straight sets. Argentina will face France in the semifinal, after winning the tie 3-2.
Because of the historic political problems between Serbia and Croatia, the two neighbors, the clash between them had a lot of tension. However, against the Croats, Novak Djokovic, Serbian star, led his team to a 4-1 victory. For this win at Split, Croatia, credit goes to Tipsarevic and Zimonjic too.
The Czechs quietly defeated Chile 4-1, in the last quarterfinal of Davis Cup. Home advantage of Chile didn’t help them at all. The Chilean team was hurt by the absence of Fernando Gonzalez., for semifinal against Serbia; the Czech team was helped by Jan Hajek, Lukas Dlouhy and Ivo Minar.
