NADAL ONE WIN AWAY FROM YEAR-END NO. 1: Rafael Nadal is one - TopicsExpress



          

NADAL ONE WIN AWAY FROM YEAR-END NO. 1: Rafael Nadal is one match win away from becoming year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the third time (also 2008, 2010). Nadal beat fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes on Tuesday in Group A at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The victory avenged his loss to Ferrer in the BNP Paribas Masters semi-finals on Saturday in Paris. It was their sixth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting of the season. I played a little calmer than other the day, said Nadal. In my opinion, he didnt have the chance to hit a winner as easy as he did three days ago. The 27-year-old Nadal will qualify for the semi-finals, at The O2 in London, should he beat Stanislas Wawrinka in two sets or if he beats Wawrinka and Ferrer overcomes Tomas Berdych. Nadal improved to a 72-6 match record on the season. He has won 10 titles – including at two majors and five ATP World Tour Masters 1000s – from 13 finals since early February, when he returned from a seven-month injury lay-off. There were three breaks of serve in the first five games as the former finalists tried to establish themselves in their 26th clash. Nadal, the 2010 runner-up, won three straight games from a 1-2 deficit and broke 2007 finalist Ferrer to love to clinch the 34-minute opener. Nadal took a 5-0 lead in the second set to keep Ferrer, who had been aggressive in their Paris semi-final, on the back foot. Ferrer broke Nadal to 15 in the seventh game, but Nadal took Ferrer’s serve for a sixth time to wrap up the match. Rafael play good, he started very solid, said Ferrer. I didnt play my game [throughout] the match. I made a lot of mistakes. I was not comfortable at the court. For me to beat Rafael, I need to be more focused. Nadal is now 21-4 this year against Top 10 opponents in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Ferrer has won 55-plus matches for the fourth straight year. He dropped to a 60-22 season record, which includes two titles at the Heineken Open in Auckland (d. Kohlschreiber) and the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires (d. Wawrinka).
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 09:47:57 +0000

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