David Ferrer beats Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals – SkiStar Swedish Open 2012
World number five, David Ferrer of Spain, is now just one win away from his fifth title of the season, as he defeated Bulgaria’s 69th ranked, Grigor Dimitrov, in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to reach the SkiStar Swedish Open
final in Bastad, Sweden on Saturday. It took the Spanish number two just an hour and 33 minutes to down his Bulgarian rival.
Ferrer and Dimitrov captured their serve in the opening three games to take the score to 2-1 in the former’s favour. The Spaniard claimed breakthrough in the fourth game to go up 3-1 but Dimitrov struck back immediately to reduce
the trail to 2-3. However, Ferrer did not come under pressure at that moment, snatching a break again in the sixth game and consolidating on it this time to attain a 5-2 lead. The Bulgarian shortened the deficit to 3-5 by winning the eighth one but he could
not come to equal terms, losing the opener 3-6.
The Spaniard contender's serve was not at its best, as he did not hit any ace and committed a couple of double faults. The 30-year-old maintained a first serve percentage of just 55, converting 10 of the 16 of them into points.
The Valencia, Spain resident made the most of Dimitrov’s weak second serves, as he clinched seven of the 12 points on them.
Ferrer and the Bulgarian played the second set in a steady manner, winning their serve in the first 10 games to even out the proceedings at 5-5. The Spanish player took his standard to next level afterwards, as he allowed Dimitrov
to claim only one point, grabbing two games in a row to seal it 7-5.
The 5ft 9in tall drastically improved his performance on the first deliveries, as he banged in a couple of aces and kept the percentage on 73, securing 24 of the 30 points on them. Though, he could not fare well on the second ones,
losing seven of the 11 points. The right-hander put away all the four break threats he came across and availed the only chance he received.
At the end of the match, Ferrer said, "I didn't serve well today. I saved good points and I was a bit lucky in the [second] set. I'm very happy to be in the final here in Bastad."
The Spaniard is slated to play his country’s second seeded player, Nicolas Almagro, in the title match.
Tags: