Ferrer Follows Federer into US Open Semifinals

Another reason for Ferrer’s victory was his effectiveness at net, approaching 36 times in the match and winning 76 percent of those points.

No. 15 Seed David Ferrer defeated No. 20 Seed Juan Ignacio Chela in a Men's Singles Quarterfinal match to on Day 11 of the 2007 US Open. Photo courtesy: usopen.org

NEW YORK - Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina and David Ferrer of Spain are primarily known for their abilities on clay courts, but on Thursday, one of these two pushed through to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time – on the hard courts of the US Open.

Changing from slow clay to a quicker surface is something that many South American or European players have a difficult time adjusting to, but Chela and Ferrer have shown their versatility during the past two weeks.

Today, it was Ferrer who proved he was the better player on the faster hard courts, which rewards a more offensive style of tennis. Ferrer’s aggressiveness paid off, winning 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

There are many reasons for Ferrer’s success in this tournament, and all of them were on display in this quarterfinal.

He stayed behind the baseline often – typically a clay-court attribute – but his incredible foot speed allowed him to catch up to every shot that Chela threw at him.

His ability to quickly change from defense to offense helped him break Chela twice in the opening set, which set the tone for the rest of the match.

Another reason for Ferrer’s victory was his effectiveness at net, approaching 36 times in the match and winning 76 percent of those points.

Ferrer also served well, winning 77 percent of his points on his first serve.

As a result, the Spaniard had no trouble holding his service games, so much so that Chela didn’t have a break-point opportunity until the second game of the third set.

All of this was complemented with a very effective return of serve, which has been touted as one of the best in the ATP Tour.

After Roger Federer said in his press conference last night that Ferrer has the best return of serve in the game, a stunned Ferrer smiled and said, “Roger said that?”

Federer’s words proved prophetic, though, as Ferrer used his return of serve to break Chela five times on the day, including at 5-5 in the third set.

Leading 6-5 and serving for the match, Ferrer finished Chela off with a rare ace, winning the match in just over two hours.

Chela’s short and compact ground strokes always kept him in the points, but rarely won them outright, as he had only 21 winners compared to Ferrer’s 37.

When asked about Ferrer’s match against a hobbled Rafael Nadal, Chela quickly noted that Ferrer deserves all the credit.

“I think you shouldn’t, really, you know, focus or speculate on Nadal’s injuries; you just need to look at how well Ferrer is playing right now,” said Chela.

Ferrer’s semifinal opponent on Saturday will be either No. 3-seed Novak Djokovic or fellow countryman Carlos Moya. “If you told me a semifinal on a hard court, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Ferrer after the match.

Story by: Ed McGrogan

Courtesy: usopen.org

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports