David Ferrer falls to Roger Federer in opening round of Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals
Spanish tennis pro David Ferrer dropped his first Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals match to Roger Federer on Sunday night, losing the opening match in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to the four-time champion of the prestigious end of year award.
Ferrer had never been able to defeat the Swiss tennis pro, current World Number 2, in 10 previous meetings. The outcome of the match was not entirely unexpected, since Ferrer began the match as a complete underdog. The fans may have contributed to the partisan
environment. It was obvious that Federer had much more of a support system from the 17,500 spectators present, one of whom was ex-footballer and coach Diego Maradona.
Although Ferrer might have been able to make an impression at the event, he did not play at his highest level. To the contrary, he struggled with his serve and made errors of judgement and play at crucial moments throughout the match.
Federer began the match by gaining a 4-0 advantage within the first half hour, and played accurate and aggressive shots from the baseline. Ferrer, however, was unable to play anything other than defence, lacking the firepower needed to give Federer a run
for his money.
The Spanish player is best known for his return game, but he only began to match up to Federer at the end of the first set. He successfully broke Federer’s serve in the fifth game, to make his first and only point in the set. After this, he went on to play
reasonably well from the baseline through the following game.
However, two more double faults cost him one more service break, and as a consequence the set went to Federer.
Ferrer got into his stride during the next set. He held his own serve, despite three more double faults, but although the set was competitive it was still no struggle for Federer. With superior performance and form, his serve and forehand made a great difference
resulting in a victory for the Maestro. He served up 4-2, and then held out during a long game, which consisted of many deuces before he got out of trouble with two consecutive service winners.
However, two games later Federer found himself on deuce once more, but he easily managed to jam Ferrer with a well-shot second serve. This resulted in a forehand winner, after which he hit another ace to take the game away from the Spaniard.
Ferrer’s best chance to break the Swiss player’s serve was in the second set, when Federer was down 15-40 (during the final game). However, Ferrer fumbled a forehand at break point, and the Maestro was able to take the match with one of his powerful serves.
Ferrer was understandably regretful during the post-match interview, saying, “I was terrible with my serve and you can't play like that against Federer. Still, I have two more matches left... now I have to focus on what I'll be facing against (Swedish Robin)
Soderling”.
Group A’s matches will begin on Monday, whereas Group B has already begun the competition.
In 2007 when the ATP World Tour Finals were played in Shanghai, David Ferrer lost the final of the event to Federer. The Barclay’s ATP WTF is considered one of the most prominent events of the tennis calendar, second only to the Grand Slams in terms of both
prestige and ranking points.
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