David Ferrer ousts Olivier Rochus in the title-round – Heineken Open 2012
Top seed David Ferrer edged past Belgian Olivier Rochus in straight sets at the Heineken Open 2012, an ATP World Tour 250 series event leading towards the Australian Open. He formulated a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the 30-year-old Belgian to triumph his twelfth
ATP career title on Saturday.
The defending champion, Ferrer outclassed the Belgian, ranked 68th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, in straight sets in their eighth duel with each other. He not only extended his lead in the head-to-head series by 6-2 against
Rochus but also confidently advanced towards the Melbourne Grand Slam which holds prize money of $26 million and 2000 ATP ranking points for the winner.
World number five, Ferrer, made a strong entry in the opening set and drew the first blood in the second game to take the initial edge. Later, the Spaniard held remaining serves and pocketed the opener with a 6-3 victory.
Ferrer kept momentum sailing into the final set and earned the break of serve in the opening game. Despite losing his serve in the fourth game, he broke the Belgian’s serve again in the seventh game and clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
Overall, the Spanish number two blasted nine aces and committed fewer unforced errors and double faults. He clobbered a lower first serve share of 46 percent as opposed to Rochus’ 60 percent but registered an impressive 26 out of 32 win on it. In the end,
however, Ferrer finished the match with 68 points as compared with the Belgian’s 57.
"It was a pretty tough match," said the high spirited Spaniard. "I think in the second set, we played good tennis. I think the key was the difference with my first serve and his."
Ferrer is now ready to bid for the Australian Open, first Grand Slam event of the season starting from January 16th. He needs to play his original game to conquer anyone, however, the Spaniard needs to improve his defensive skills and first serve
share in order to overpower the top four tennis players of the world.
"I played a good final and I think the level was great," assessed Rochus. "It was very tough physically. There were a lot of long rallies. I'm happy with how I played today and throughout the week... He was just better than me in the crucial moments."
The Belgian on the other hand is eyeing to reach far at the Melbourne Park and is happy for his final berth at this tournament.
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