ABU DHABI // David Ferrer is sticking around a bit longer this time around.
After being drilled by eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the opening round of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship last winter, the Spanish veteran debut match yesterday featured much less pain and suffering.
A former finalist at the Mubadala event, Ferrer pulled off an impressively quick turnaround to rout world No 8 Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 6-1 at Zayed Sports City.
Ferrer, ranked No 3 in the world, trailed 5-3 in the first set after Wawrinka had just broken serve, when a tidal change worthy of the Arabian Gulf took place.
One of the feistiest players in the tour’s elite class, Ferrer won the next nine games before Wawrinka finally held serve at 5-0 down in the second set. It only postponed the inevitable. Serving again, Ferrer finished off the Swiss and ended the match in exactly 60 minutes of match time.
“It’s very nice to come back again,” said Ferrer, a fixture in the Abu Dhabi event. “It’s nice to have won the first match of the season.”
Especially since last year’s opener was won by Djokovic in a cool 70 minutes.
About the only Ferrer setback came when he fell to the ground while straining to reach a Wawrinka shot while leading 5-0 in the second set, and even then, he drew an ovation when he climbed back to his feet.
As a reward, if that is the right word, Ferrer next plays Rafael Nadal in the semifinals on Friday at 3 pm. Ferrer beat Nadal in Paris last year, but lost to him in London, Rome, Madrid, Acapulco, and most notably, at the finals of the French Open. The latter marked Ferrer’s first trip to a grand slam final.
In official ATP competition, Nadal holds a 21-5 edge over his 31 year old countryman.
