ARTICLE Spain Reach Semifinals
World No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero put his team into the semifinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, delivering the crucial third point with a 64 67(5) 46 75 61 defeat of Martin Verkerk in the first of Sunday’s reverse singles. Having defeated the Netherlands, Spain will now face France at home in the semifinals, to be held September 24-26.
Verkerk came to the Bull Ring in Palma as a completely transformed player from Friday. He had re-discovered his powerful serve and he leapt around the court clenching his fists and celebrating every point with his animated captain on the sideline. But despite taking Ferrero to a fifth set in an epic match, it was not enough to overcome the clay court specialist increasingly known as the ‘King of Clay’.
The first set opened with Ferrero breaking Verkerk’s serve and racing to a two game lead, before holding serve to take the set 64. In the second set when Ferrero broke to take the lead at 4-3, it looked like we might witness a repeat of last years Roland Garros final where Ferrero crushed Verkerk in three straight sets. But the 6’5” pumped-up Dutchman immediately broke back and took the set to a tiebreak, winning it 7-5.
The third set was a roller coaster ride with both players breaking serve. The set eventually went to Verkerk who made the most of his opportunities, converting both of his break point opportunities, while Ferrero only managed one conversion, letting five break points slip away.
Spurred on by the chants of ‘Espana’,Ferrero rallied himself in the fourth set and found the corners of the court to break Verkerk at 65 and level the score at two sets all. With his nation’s semifinal berth within reach, the Spaniard broke Verkerk twice to take a 5-1 lead in the fifth, pumping his fist in a rare show of emotion. Ferrero skidded to his knees when he eventually closed out the match in just over four hours, dispelling fears of an apparent lack of match fitness following a recent bout of chicken pox that had kept him off the circuit for two weeks.
It sealed a victory for the Spanishin a tie that began very one sided after Spain took the first two rubbers in straight sets on Friday, and then looked set to take the doubles on Saturday with a two sets to one lead before rain delayed further play until Sunday. But the Dutch side used the time to re-group and came out a different team on Sunday, taking the doubles rubber and lifting the intensity of the quarterfinal clash.
Verkerk was clearly disappointed with the result.
“I feel tired now. I played Moya on Friday and he was just better than me that day. Then I played doubles for two days and five sets and that was pretty tough, but the match against Ferrero was the toughest one I have played this weekend and it is disappointing to end it this way.
“Whenever I see Ferrero I am not so happy, because I got my ass kicked at Roland Garros by him, so he is like a nightmare for me. This time I wanted to show him that I can beat him and I think I did that today, the only thing I didn’t do is win. But I played to the same level as him and sometimes even better.”
In the fifth dead rubber, home favourite Carlos Moya defeated Sjeng Schalken 63 64 to complete a 4-1 overall win.
Congrats to JC for taking Spain to the semis. And a big hand should be given to Verkerk for putting up an amazing fight despite having just played 3 sets in the doubles rubber earlier. Though I'd like to think that JC's talent won him the match I cannot deny the fact that Verkerk might have been suffering from fatigue =( But anyways CONGRATS to the Armada!!
World No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero put his team into the semifinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, delivering the crucial third point with a 64 67(5) 46 75 61 defeat of Martin Verkerk in the first of Sunday’s reverse singles. Having defeated the Netherlands, Spain will now face France at home in the semifinals, to be held September 24-26.
Verkerk came to the Bull Ring in Palma as a completely transformed player from Friday. He had re-discovered his powerful serve and he leapt around the court clenching his fists and celebrating every point with his animated captain on the sideline. But despite taking Ferrero to a fifth set in an epic match, it was not enough to overcome the clay court specialist increasingly known as the ‘King of Clay’.
The first set opened with Ferrero breaking Verkerk’s serve and racing to a two game lead, before holding serve to take the set 64. In the second set when Ferrero broke to take the lead at 4-3, it looked like we might witness a repeat of last years Roland Garros final where Ferrero crushed Verkerk in three straight sets. But the 6’5” pumped-up Dutchman immediately broke back and took the set to a tiebreak, winning it 7-5.
The third set was a roller coaster ride with both players breaking serve. The set eventually went to Verkerk who made the most of his opportunities, converting both of his break point opportunities, while Ferrero only managed one conversion, letting five break points slip away.
Spurred on by the chants of ‘Espana’,Ferrero rallied himself in the fourth set and found the corners of the court to break Verkerk at 65 and level the score at two sets all. With his nation’s semifinal berth within reach, the Spaniard broke Verkerk twice to take a 5-1 lead in the fifth, pumping his fist in a rare show of emotion. Ferrero skidded to his knees when he eventually closed out the match in just over four hours, dispelling fears of an apparent lack of match fitness following a recent bout of chicken pox that had kept him off the circuit for two weeks.
It sealed a victory for the Spanishin a tie that began very one sided after Spain took the first two rubbers in straight sets on Friday, and then looked set to take the doubles on Saturday with a two sets to one lead before rain delayed further play until Sunday. But the Dutch side used the time to re-group and came out a different team on Sunday, taking the doubles rubber and lifting the intensity of the quarterfinal clash.
Verkerk was clearly disappointed with the result.
“I feel tired now. I played Moya on Friday and he was just better than me that day. Then I played doubles for two days and five sets and that was pretty tough, but the match against Ferrero was the toughest one I have played this weekend and it is disappointing to end it this way.
“Whenever I see Ferrero I am not so happy, because I got my ass kicked at Roland Garros by him, so he is like a nightmare for me. This time I wanted to show him that I can beat him and I think I did that today, the only thing I didn’t do is win. But I played to the same level as him and sometimes even better.”
In the fifth dead rubber, home favourite Carlos Moya defeated Sjeng Schalken 63 64 to complete a 4-1 overall win.
Congrats to JC for taking Spain to the semis. And a big hand should be given to Verkerk for putting up an amazing fight despite having just played 3 sets in the doubles rubber earlier. Though I'd like to think that JC's talent won him the match I cannot deny the fact that Verkerk might have been suffering from fatigue =( But anyways CONGRATS to the Armada!!
