Ferrer Beats Dustin Brown to Advance to Swedish Open Semifinals

David Ferrer continues to roll…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis player battled past Dustin Brown 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the Swedish Open on Friday.

David Ferrer

Ferrer, the top seed and two-time champion at the tournament, improved his head-to-head record versus the German player to 4-0 following the 92-minute win, which was watched in the stands by Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg.

Ferrer will next face his compatriot, third seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

“He’s playing his best tennis of this season so I’m going to have to play very good and very consistent to have a good chance to be in the final,” said Ferrer of his opponent.

Ramos-Vinolas reached his second semifinal of 2016 as he defeated Andrea Arnaboldi. The Spaniard saved six of the 11 break points he faced to outlast the Italian 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 in what was their first tour-level meeting.

Fifth seed Fernando Verdasco eased into the last four in Bastad with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Facundo Bagnis in 68 minutes. The Spaniard will continue to bid for his eighth ATP World Tour singles title when he faces Gastao Elias.

“It’s great for me to be in the semifinals here again. Today I’m one step closer and hopefully tomorrow I will keep playing as good as today or even better,” said Verdasco. “I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve been playing better and better every day. Tomorrow I will face a Portuguese player and they are both playing good this week. I know that it’s going to be difficult.”

Elias reached his first ATP World Tour semifinal by upsetting second seed Joao Sousa 6-2, 6-2.

The 25-year-old Portuguese tennis player capitalized on five of his seven break point chances to notch his first win over his compatriot (Sousa now leads rivalry 2-1) in 62 minutes.

Nadal Defeats Ernests Gulbis to Reach Qatar Open Semifinals

Rafael Nadal is the last seed standing in the Middle East…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, the top seed at the Qatar Open, beat seventh-seeded Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Thursday to earn the distinction as the tournament’s last remaining seed.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal, who is often tested by the 24th-ranked Gulbis, has yet to lose a match to the Latvian in seven played.

This rain-delayed match marked only the second time Nadal has defeated Gulbis in straight sets. The other time was also in Doha, in the 2011 quarterfinals.

Nadal finally broke Gulbis in the 11th game when the latter sent a drop shot wide. Nadal needed five set points to close out the first set in the next game.

Gulbis raced to 3-0 in the second set but couldn’t hold on to the advantage. He had three points for 4-1 but ended up losing serve.

Nadal broke with a stunning backhand cross-court that creased the line in the seventh game to take a permanent lead. He closed the match with a breathtaking backhand volley winner.

“I’m happy to win against Ernests,” Nadal said. “If you are not playing well it’s very, very difficult. He’s able to hit winners from every part on the court.”

Nadal is set to play German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk. The 162nd-ranked Gojowczyk defeated fellow German qualifier Dustin Brown 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to reach his first career tour semifinal.

Before this week, Gojowczyk had only one ATP tour-level match win, at the 2013 US Open.

The other semi will pit Florian Mayer of Germany against Gael Monfils of France.

Ferrer Claims His Second Unicef Open Title

David Ferrer has received a serious confidence boost with Wimbledon right around the corner…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star secured his fourth title of the year by beating unseeded Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Unicef Open grass-court tournament in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

David Ferrer

It’s the second time Ferrer, who was the tournament’s top seed this year, has taken home the title.

Ferrer, the 2008 champion, broke the German twice in the opening set and once in the second, closing the match by winning a game at love to comfortably earn a victory at the Wimbledon warm-up.

David Ferrer

“Now I want to enjoy this moment and tomorrow I will focus on Wimbledon,” Ferrer said. “I played my best match of the week.”

Following a successful clay court season that included wins in Acapulco and Buenos Aires, reaching the final in Barcelona and a semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, Ferrer demonstrated few problems adapting to the quicker grass surface.

Ferrer is seeded seventh at Wimbledon, and the Spaniard faces a first-round match against Germany’s Dustin Brown.