David Ferrer and Juan Martin Del Potro steal the show this weekend – Tennis News
World number five, David Ferrer, toppled the Ukrainian number one, Alexandr Dolgopolov, in a three-set thriller at the Valencia Open 2012 on Sunday. He nudged up a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory against the 23-year-old to claim his sixth year-to-date crown at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 Series event held in Valencia, Spain.
Seeded top at his home tournament, Ferrer showed top notch skills to conquer Dolgopolov and lift his third Valencia title. After stealing the spotlight in one hour and 48 minutes, Ferrer pocketed €342,850 in prize money and improved to a 5-1 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series against the world number 18.
Ferrer was quoted in a courtside interview after notching this victory.
"It's always very difficult to play at home. I knew it would be more difficult to win the title again. He's a very talented opponent. I played aggressively and it went well for me.”
The Spanish number two lost his track in the second set but stayed focused and eventually, sealing the deal with conviction. He dropped his serve once but cashed three out of six break chances to prevail. Ferrer struck four aces and clobbered a better first serve share of 71 per cent as compared to his rival’s 53 per cent.
Elsewhere, the Argentinean top ranked star Juan Martin Del Potro stunned top seeded Roger Federer and conquered the Swiss Indoors. He recorded a 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(3) victory against the world number one to capture his 13th career title at the St. Jakobshalle.
"It was an unbelievable final, the match was really close. After six losses, it was a big win for me. I was fighting all the time. I got lucky in the end, but I felt that I played a really good match. It was tough for both of us. I was to enjoy this title, then get ready to play in Paris and London.”
Seeded second in this event, Del Potro required a single break of serve to pull out the opener with a 6-4 score line.
He failed to capitalise on his break opportunity in the following set but managed to keep his entire serves. However, the Argentine was underplayed in the tie-breaker and eventually levelled the set scores.
In the deciding set, the world number eight got back in action and after dusting away all four breakpoints he came across, he kept his entire serves. He failed to find any break opportunity but dominated in the tie-breaker, eventually clicking the match in two hours and 44 minutes.
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