Tag Archives: ATP Finals

Ferrer Replacing the Injured Milos Roanic at the ATP Finals

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He may have no chance of advancing, but David Ferrer will still get some time on the courts at the ATP Finals.

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player has replaced Milos Roanic at the year-end tournament. The switch comes after the Canadian player withdrew with a quad injury before his final round-robin match against Japan’s Kei Nishikori on Thursday.

David Ferrer

The seventh-seeded Raonic, who lost his first two matches in Group B in straight sets, will be replaced by Ferrer, the first alternate at the ATP Finals.

“As badly as I wanted to play, you’ve got to be at the top of your game here and I couldn’t be close to that today,” said the big-serving Canadian. “Wouldn’t have been fair to the fans if I had played a mediocre match or had to stop.”

Six-time champion Roger Federer will take on Andy Murray in the group’s other match. If the 17-time Grand Slam champion beats Murray and Nishikori defeats Ferrer, then the Scot will be eliminated from the indoor event.

Ferrer, who trained in London this week, has no chance of making it to the semifinals. At the Paris Masters last month, he saw his hopes of qualifying for the Finals vanish after losing a tough battle to Nishikori in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard came within two points of victory but failed to hold on to his lead.

Raonic, one of the three newcomers in London with Marin Cilic and Nishikori, said he picked up his injury during his defeat to Murray.

“I have a slight tear in my quad and a large area of swelling,” he said. “I’ve had a great time here. It motivates me a lot to come here next year and do better than I did.”

Ferrer Oulasts Philipp Kohlschreiber to Reach Erste Bank Open Final

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 David Ferrer is a survivor…

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player came back from a break down in the final set to defeat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3) on Saturday and set up a final match against Andy Murray at the Erste Bank Open.

David Ferrer

Ferrer, the tournament’s top seed, will appear in his fourth final of the season. He’s seeking his 22nd career ATP title and second of the year.

Murray leads Ferrer 7-6 though the fifth-ranked Spaniard won their only previous meeting this season in Shanghai last week. Both players are competing to qualify for the ATP Finals in London next month.

“I am fighting for the Race to London,” Ferrer said and called the final “a difficult match for sure. I know I have to play very good and have to serve better.”

Murray’s 50th win of the season saw him provisionally rise to eighth place in the qualifying race to the eight-man event.

If Murray holds on to his position, he will qualify for a seventh straight year for the prestigious season-ending tournament, though he pulled out following back surgery in 2013.

But he faces a tough challenge from Ferrer, who hadn’t lost a service game in the tournament before the semifinals but had to save five break points in the opening set against Kohlschreiber.

The German managed to break Ferrer twice in the second set to level the match but couldn’t hold on to a 4-2 lead in the final set.

del Potro Defeats Rafael Nadal to Reach Shanghai Masters Final

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Juan Martin del Potro has taken down the world’s No. 1 player in China…

The 25-year-old Argentine tennis player defeated Rafael Nadal, who just returned to the top of the world rankings after an impressive run this year, 6-2, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters semifinals on Saturday.

Juan Martin del Potro

The fifth-ranked del Potro will now attempt to win his first Masters title on Sunday against top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the other semifinal 6-2, 7-5.

del Potro hadn’t beaten Nadal since the semifinals of the 2009 U.S. Open where he went on to win his only Grand Slam title.

But del Potro is playing fully fit and confident — he’s coming off a win last week at the Japan Open that returned him to the top five in the rankings for the first time in three years.

He completely overpowered Nadal with his deep, punishing groundstrokes and fended off all six break points he faced.

Nadal’s serve, on the other hand, was under threat during the entire match. After not dropping serve in 28 games this week, the Spaniard was broken twice to start the match as del Potro raced out to 4-0.

Del Potro started to make a few mistakes in the second set, giving Nadal two chances to break in the second game. But the Argentine saved both with huge serves and put the pressure right back on Nadal, breaking him for a third time in the following game.

“I played so solid all the time, hitting so hard the ball. I saw Rafa playing very far off the baseline, which is good for my game, for my serve and confidence. That’s the way to beat this guy,” del Potro said.

Nadal said he hadn’t seen del Potro play this well in years. Or anyone, for that matter.

“Very few times I played against a player with a level like today I played against,” the Spaniard said. “At the end, I played against a player who served 80 percent of first serves, who hit every ball as hard as he can, I think, and with no mistakes.”

del Potro wrapped up a spot in the ATP Finals in London with the win. He’s been working his way back into top form since a wrist injury knocked him off the tour for most of 2010 — just after he got his breakthrough win as a 20-year-old at the U.S. Open.