From June 25th, 2012, until June 9th, 2014, David Ferrer had spent just three weeks outside of the top five in the world. Times are changing, however, with the Spaniard now ranked 7th for the first time since May of 2011. Regarded as one of the most consistent players on tour over the last few years, the “roadrunner” has seen his level drop in 2014, with uncharacteristic performances the cause for this slip in rank.
Ferrer has reached just one tour level Final this year, which resulted in a tournament victory at Buenos Aires back in February. When compared to the fact he claimed nine titles combined in 2012 and 2013, this is a serious drop-off. For a player who prides himself on using superior fitness and a gritty mentality to wear down opponents, is this a sign that Ferrer is breaking down himself? Perhaps the biggest indicator of a potential shift in mentality for Ferrer came after losing 6-4 4-6 0-6 1-6 to Nadal at this year’s French Open. In his post-match presser he spoke of his thoughts during the match, “I don’t usually do this, but I thought, ‘I’m not going to be able to come back into the match’.” Early season losses to Brands and Lu on hard court were followed by a poor clay court loss to Gabashvili in Barcelona, and then the illness-affected defeat at the hands of Andrey Kuznetsov in the second round of Wimbledon, continued a sub-par season.
He has the chance to double his number of title match appearances for 2014 in Hamburg, however, with a semi-final appearance against Hamburg local and promising youngster, Alexander Zverev. The 17 year-old has defeated Robin Haase, Mikhail Youzhny, Santiago Giraldo and Tobias Kamke, coming back from a first-set bagel against the latter, to reach his first career semi-final. It’s amazing really, with this week the first time Zverev has won an ATP-level match. He becomes the youngest player ever to reach the semis of an ATP 500 event. Zverev will be fired up in front of a parochial home crowd, and with nothing to lose, he poses a threat to Ferrer.
The Spaniard’s journey to the semis began with respective three set wins over Kukushkin and Seppi, before a dominant 6-0 6-2 victory over compatriot, Pablo Andujar. The match lasted just 66 minutes, and Ferrer was naturally content with his performance: "It’s never easy but for sure it was my best match this week," he said. "I’m happy for that. I think the first and second round I didn’t play my good tennis, I just played good in some moments. Today, I played all the match good, without a lot of mistakes and playing aggressive and consistently with my forehand. I’m happy with my game and because I am in the semi-finals."
Ferrer’s performance in Hamburg will see him depose Milos Raonic from the 6th ranking spot, and also serve as a confidence booster heading into the American hard court season, where he has some good opportunities to pick up points and make an assault on the top five.