Ferrer, Nadal win to reach Masters semis

SHANGHAI (China)—Sixth-ranked David Ferrer thoroughly dominated No. 8 Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 Thursday to reach the Masters Cup semifinals, and helped friend and fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal along with him.
Ferrer’s easy 59-minute victory also allowed No. 2-ranked Nadal to advance from the Gold Group of the round-robin phase by eliminating Gasquet. Nadal earlier beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in a match between two players weary from a long season. He finished 2-1 in round-robin play.
Ferrer won his group by taking all three of his matches while dropping only one set, to Nadal. Gasquet broke him in the first game, but Ferrer then ran off eight games in a row.
Gasquet did not hold serve until he already was down 2-0 in the second set. Constantly on the run from Ferrer’s deep groundstrokes, he managed to win just 12 of 39 points on his serve and had five winners to 25 unforced errors.
Ferrer won 54 points to 25 for the Frenchman, who sent a forehand long on match point to hand Ferrer his sixth service break.
Nadal, both knees taped as in recent weeks, had a little more determination not to lose. He had Djokovic, who has admitted to exhaustion from more than 100 matches this year and off-court demands on his time, in almost constant trouble.
“I am very happy about my game today,” Nadal said. “I play very, very good match, the best match here, and one of the best matches of the indoor season.
“My calendar is tough because I have to play a lot of matches in the clay season. That is a good news for me, to play a lot of matches. But sometimes is tough.”
Djokovic fended off two break points in the first game, then saw Nadal run off four straight games to take control.
Djokovic showed flashes of the skills that carried him from No. 16 in the rankings in January to five titles and No. 3 in the world. But, too often, the Serb’s shoulders were slumping as shots that would have been winners earlier in the year were just missing. He gave a bitter smile when he netted a forehand as Nadal served at 5-4 in the first set, then trudged to his chair when he sent a backhand long on set point.
Nadal got an early break in the second set and was increasingly demonstrative as the match wore on. The Spaniard, serving at 4-3, pumped his fist eight times after fending off the second of two Djokovic break points with a great backhand volley for a player not known for his net game.
Nadal smacked a forehand winner down the line on match point. “It wasn’t my week,” Djokovic said. “I wasn’t performing the way I wanted to. Unfortunately I have to finish with the three losses, which is a bit disappointing. But, of course, I don’t want to think negative. It’s been an amazing year.
“Rest is something which is necessary for me and the most important thing in this moment. I’m going to go somewhere far, far away from everybody,” Djokovic added with a smile.
On Friday, top-ranked Roger Federer will seek a semifinal place when he faces No. 5 Andy Roddick, who already has clinched his semifinals berth. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko faces No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez in the other Red Group match.
It was a better performance from Nadal, who won his opener against Gasquet but then suffered a shock defeat against Ferrer, one of a series of upsets in the 4.45-million-dollar tournament featuring the world’s top eight players.
Top-ranked Roger Federer lost his first round-robin match in six visits to the season finale and Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko, the world number three and four, have also been beaten by lower-ranked opposition.—Agencies