Saturday, September 8, 2012

Ferrer reaches US Open semi-final

Updated September 07, 2012 10:27:40

David Ferrer won through to the US Open semi-final beating Janko Tipsarevic in a five-set thriller to earn a match-up against either Novak Djokovic or Juan Martin Del Potro.

The Spanish fourth seed fought back from two-sets-to-one down to defeat his Serbian opponent 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Ferrer will now watch defending champion Djokovic and 2009 winner Juan Martin Del Potro to see who he will face in the semi-final on Sunday (AEST).

The Spaniard is 5-2 all-time against Del Potro and 5-8 in his career against Djokovic.

This will be the first time since the 2004 French Open that the semi-finals at a grand slam will not feature either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, a run of 33 Slams in a row.

In a marathon battle that lasted four hours and 31 minutes, Ferrer rallied from 4-1 down in the final set to force a tie-breaker, then won five of the final six points of the match, the last when Tipsarevic netted a backhand.

"I'm really happy," Ferrer said. "It was a very emotional match. It was a really tough match. Janko, he's an amazing player and he really fought a lot. He deserved to win today too."

Ferrer improved to 17-9 in career five-set matches while Tipsarevic fell to 15-8.

"It was a lottery in the fifth set," Ferrer said. "I had a break down but I was fighting also and I won. I had to fight a lot and be focused every point."

In the fifth set, Tipsarevic broke Ferrer's first service with a backhand volley winner for a 2-0 lead on the way to a 4-1 edge.

But the Serb slipped and fell on his left side going for a Ferrer backhand in the sixth game, which Ferrer held to pull within 4-2.

Ferrer, held, broke back in the seventh game, held again to pull even at 4-4 and earned two break points in the ninth game before Tipsarevic called for a trainer, having his right upper leg taped after reaching toward his right groin during a rally.

The Serb responded with a forehand volley winner and three service winners to hold and each man held into the final tie-breaker.

"I don't want to blame the fall for why I lost the match," Tipsarevic said. "I don't think it did, even though it's really painful right now.

"He played a really good game (to break). He was able to pass me every time I came to the net."

British third seed Andy Murray and Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych meet in the other semi-final.

ABC / AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, us-open, united-states

First posted September 07, 2012 09:51:50


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