Number One Ferrero Eases Through to Madrid Semis
MADRID (Reuters) - Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain brushed aside Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the Madrid Masters and keep hold of the number one ranking for at least another week.
Ferrero, top seed at the $2.85 million tournament, was posed few problems by the erratic Paradorn on his way to a victory that took just 65 minutes.
The Spaniard was gifted a break when Paradorn double-faulted at 15-40 in game seven on the first set and he broke twice to take the second, the seventh seed blasting a return long on the second of three match-points.
Victory was enough to ensure that Ferrero will remain on top of the ATP entry list ahead of America's Andy Roddick, who went out in the third round against Nicolas Massu of Chile on Thursday.
Ferrero will face either third seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, who also stands a chance of finishing the year as world number one, or unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the semifinals Saturday.
MADRID (Reuters) - Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain brushed aside Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the Madrid Masters and keep hold of the number one ranking for at least another week.
Ferrero, top seed at the $2.85 million tournament, was posed few problems by the erratic Paradorn on his way to a victory that took just 65 minutes.
The Spaniard was gifted a break when Paradorn double-faulted at 15-40 in game seven on the first set and he broke twice to take the second, the seventh seed blasting a return long on the second of three match-points.
Victory was enough to ensure that Ferrero will remain on top of the ATP entry list ahead of America's Andy Roddick, who went out in the third round against Nicolas Massu of Chile on Thursday.
Ferrero will face either third seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, who also stands a chance of finishing the year as world number one, or unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the semifinals Saturday.
