David Ferrer battles past Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals – US Open 2012
World number five, David Ferrer of Spain, advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open for the second time in his career by defeating Serbia’s eighth seeded player, Janko Tipsarevic, in five sets 6-3, 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in
the quarter-finals at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday.
The marathon match, that saw both players fighting fiercely for each point lasted for a total of four hours and 31 minutes.
Tennis analysts had termed Tipsarevic as the favourite to win this match, as he is a hard court specialist, whereas Ferrer loves to play on clay but the Spanish number two proved that he is one of the best on all surfaces.
Tipsarevic was first to strike, as he broke the Spaniard in the opening game and won his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. However, Ferrer captured six of the next seven to close it 6-3.
Both players served outstandingly in the second set, as they did not allow each other to break till the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Tipsarevic grabbed an early mini-break and maintained his advantage
till the end to win 7-6(5).
The Serbian carried the winning momentum into the third set, making double breakthrough and capitalising on that to grab it 6-2.
There was no break of serve in the first seven games of the fourth set, taking the score to 4-3 in favour of Ferrer. The Spaniard hit a blow to Tipsarevic in the eighth and consolidated on it to triumph 6-3.
Ferrer and Tipsarevic swapped a single break of serve in the decider, evening out the proceedings at 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. The Spaniard clinched a late mini-break and made the most of it to seal it 7-6(4).
The fourth seed, Ferrer, had some emotional moments during the contest, as he said, “It was a very emotional match, one of the best emotional matches of my career. My opponent, he also deserved to win this match. In one tie-break
it's a lottery, and I had luck in important moments. My respect to Janko Tipsarevic, because he’s playing really good and having a really good season the last year and this year also.”
On the other hand, Tipsarevic stated, “I think it was a high, intense match with not too many ups and downs, apart from my bad tennis in the middle of the first set where I lost I think four games in a row.”
Ferrer will take on the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, in the semi-finals.
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