Fresh Ferrer Outlasts Murray in Shanghai

October 9, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

David Ferrer boosted his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by defeating fellow contender Andy Murray at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday. The Spaniard came back to beat the Scot 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 to move into the Shanghai quarterfinals, and jump ahead of Murray in the Race to London standings.

Much like Kei Nishikori on Tuesday, it seemed as if fatigue finally caught up to Murray, who had played significantly more tennis than Ferrer in the last couple of weeks. He won the Shenzhen Open two weeks ago and reached the semifinals of the China Open last week, while Ferrer was handed early-round exits in each of those tournaments.

Ferrer’s freshness was evident as he was able to dominate the final two sets after quickly dropping the opening frame.

“He literally barely missed a ball for about a se and a half,” said Murray of Ferrer. “I couldn’t find a way around him. He played just great tennis, especially the last set and a half.”

Ferrer converted four of six break point opportunities in the final two sets, while allowing just one break point opportunity in those sets, which Murray was unable to convert. Despite hitting no aces, he won 26 of 31 first service points, utilizing an effective serve to dispose of Murray.

“I need to play my best tennis today,” said Ferrer. “Of course it’s my goal, and the goal of Andy. I think this match was very important for both players. Today was a good victory.”

The win moves him within 35 points of Milos Raonic for that eighth and final spot for the London finals in November. Murray falls to 10th in the standings and now trails Ferrer by 60 points.

While reaching London is the goal for Ferrer, he sets his short-term goal on a quarterfinal bout with top-seeded Novak Djokovic who improved his record to 27-0 in China on Wednesday. The Serb got a tougher test than many expected, as Russian Mikhail Kukushkin pushed the world’s top player to three-sets.

Djokovic eventually outlasted Kukushkin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to move on. He notched a key break point early in the third and used that advantage to serve out the set.

“He disguised his first serve very well. He disguised his forehands very well. Definitely was the toughest match I played so far in China,” said Djokovic, who lost his first set in China this year in this match. “When you play somebody who has nothing to lose, it’s important that I got the W.”

Roger Federer played the last match of the evening as he took out 14th seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4, 6-2 to move on. The third-seeded Federer hit 33 winners including eight aces to win his 58th match of the season.

He will play Julien Benneteau in the quarterfinals. The unseeded Frenchman took out American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday.

“I think he plays well against the better players usually,” said Ferrer of Benneteau. “I’ve struggled against him in the past, mostly indoors really, then that one time at Wimbledon, which was also played indoors. So it will be interesting to see how he plays here because he has played very consistent, very solid from what I’ve seen.”

Tomas Berdych made his way into the quarters with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. He will play Gilles Simon of France who knocked off Tunisian qualifier Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-3.

The other quarterfinal will be between Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who beat American John Isner, and Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Juan Monaco of Argentina. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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