Rafael Nadal races past David Ferrer into the title match – French Open 2012
King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, continued his amazing run towards the title, as he crushed his compatriot, David Ferrer, in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-final of the French Open in Paris on Friday.
Ferrer, seeded sixth at the event, was himself in extreme form, as he had stunned fourth ranked, Andy Murray of Great Britain, in the last match. However, he had no answer to Nadal’s ultra superior game, managing to win just five
games in the entire contest.
The start of the match was stable by both players, as they did not lose their serve in the first four games, equalising the score at 2-2. Nadal played near flawlessly afterwards, as he allowed his countryman to claim just three
points in the subsequent four games to win 6-2.
The world number two, who turned 26 on last Sunday, struck in the third and fifth game of the second set, holding all of his own serves and racing to a 5-1 advantage. Ferrer managed to reduce the trail to 2-5 by winning the seventh
one but lost the eight to go down 2-6.
Nadal continued to thrash his opponent, as he grabbed a breakthrough in the opening game of the third set and consolidated on it to attain a 2-0 lead. The Spaniard hit two more blows in the fifth and seventh, capturing it 6-1.
The left-hander pounded a couple of aces and 60 percent of the first serves, converting amazingly 33 of the 39 of them into points in the match. The Spanish star played brilliantly at the net, winning all the 13 approach points.
The 6ft 1in tall fired 26 winners and made just 16 unforced errors.
Nadal said, while giving an interview afterwards, "I'll be playing in a Grand Slam final, which is something quite special for me. This tournament is special for me. I'm really happy to reach the final. Considering what's happened
so far, I'd say this tournament has been excellent for me. We'll see what happens next, what is going to happen during the final. If I were to win I'd be very happy, but the best thing for me is to reap the fruit of so many years of work."
He added, "It was one of my best matches on this court. I think I played a really solid match with not easy conditions out there.”
The defending champion will play top seed, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the final.
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