Eighth seed David Ferrer saved two match points in a dramatic Quarter-Final with Henri Laaksonen as the Spaniard won 7-5 3-6 7-6(3). While other results saw Fernando Verdasco won a rematch of last year’s final against Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 6-2.
A massive 32 break point opportunities were created in the match as both men dominated on return as they attempted to break on return. Both competitors were also good at saving break points, especially the world number 100 who saved 14 out of 18 opportunities. In fact you could argue that Laaksonen played the better tennis throughout the match as he broke the Ferrer serve five times, more than his opponent.
Laaksonen had two match points at 5-4 however the Spaniard’s experience showed as he saved them and he went on to take the match after winning the third set tiebreak 7-3. After the match Ferrer admitted his experience was crucial, ‘I think my experience was the key in the tie-break, I tried to fight on the important points.’
Ferrer will meet fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco who won a rematch from last year’s Bastad final as he beat second seed and defending champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-3. He won his 21st match of the 2017 season by winning 86% of 1st service points. He used the first serve to dictate play and move his compatriot around the court.
After the match Verdasco explained he is playing some of the best tennis of his career, ‘I played one of my best matches of the year, I was very solid with my serve the whole match and had chances in most return games. I’m very happy with the level I played today and I think I need to produce this level at least if I want to be in the final again.”
In the bottom half of the draw, Alexandr Dolgopolov saved two match points to defeat talented Russia Karen Khachanov 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(2) in two hours. The Ukrainian, who is still suffering from the leg injury he suffered at Wimbledon managed to survive and produced a stunning performance to make his second ATP World Tour Semi-Final of the season.
He spoke about his struggle after the match, ‘He was serving at 3-0 [in the third set] with a double break and my leg was troubling me a bit on serve, But the game went my way and I made a fast break and kept it to just one break. I was just playing my game, relaxed, not expecting anything because I was down a lot. I wasn’t being too tough on myself and it just went my way I guess.’
The Ukrainian will play another Russian in the last four on Saturday, as he will play Andrey Kuznetsov who beat Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-3. The Russian was the more adventurous of the two players and received his reward by breaking the Argentinian four times en route to victory.
