Match report

David Ferrer © Tennistalk.com
Catella Swedish Open
Quarter final
7/11/08 1 2 3 Tot
es  David Ferrer 7 6 3 6 2
se  Robin Söderling 5 7 7 1 1
Robin Söderling © Tennistalk.com

  • Ferrer Wears Down Söderling in Bastad

    7/12/08 5:52 AM | Ricky Dimon
    The Swedish fans were treated to an epic show for a while on Friday, but their man finally wilted in the third set. David Ferrer finally outlasted Robin Söderling to reach the Bastad semifinals.

    David Ferrer needed two hours and 42 minutes to do it, but he survived Robin Söderling 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Catella Swedish Open. The No. 1 seed will face Tommy Robredo for a spot in the final.

    That semifinal place looked completely up for grabs throughout the first two sets. Söderling grabbed a quick break of serve to take a 2-0 lead, but the clay really put a damper on his serve and that allowed Ferrer to get back in the match. The Swede won less than half of his first-serve points in set one, and Ferrer's second break of serve gave him a 6-5 advantage. He then served out the opening set to go in front.

    Söderling, however, fought back and his serve picked up considerably. The players traded breaks of serve as the second set progressed to a tiebreaker, which Söderling dominated.

    Nowhere near the kind of mover that Ferrer is, Söderling started feeling the effects of two arduous sets far earlier than Ferrer. His lack of energy manifested itself in a dismal 43 percent service percentage and that allowed the Spaniard to regain momentum. Söderling kept up the fight nonetheless, but he failed to capitalize on any of four break-point chances and that killed his hopes of getting back in the match.

    Ferrer and Robredo are quite familiar with each other, having already squared off twice in the past three months. Both of those meetings came on clay, with Ferrer prevailing in Valencia and and again in Barcelona. Overall Ferrer leads their head-to-head series 3-1.

  • Thumbs up

    Ferrer saved 13 of 16 break points.

  • Thumbs down

    Söderling, who was broken six times, served no aces and six double-faults.

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