ARTICLE Revived Ferrero edges past Gaudio into Barcelona semis
BARCELONA, April 22 (Reuters) - Juan Carlos Ferrero's revival continued with an enthralling 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over Gaston Gaudio on Friday which earned him a place in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard showed he is recovering the sort of form that saw him win the French Open in 2003 with a superb display of claycourt tennis against the second seeded Argentine, who succeeded him as champion at Roland Garros.
Ferrero edged an evenly balanced first set after earning himself a break point in the 10th game with a delicate drop volley and then finished off with a clever crosscourt winner.
Gaudio, the only one of the top six seeds to make it into the quarter-finals, fought back hard to claim a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set and although Ferrero pulled it back to 5-4 he wrapped up with a confident service game.
Neither player gave any quarter in the decisive third set, trading a succession of powerful ground strokes during the course of some lengthy rallies.
But a highly-focused Ferrero stretched his opponent around the court and gained the crucial breakthrough in the eighth game, breaking to go 5-3 up when he forced Gaudio into a forehand error and the Argentine then double faulted.
Gaudio saved three match points, but Ferrero earned himself a fourth with a sizzling running pass and the world number eight finally succumbed when he put his return into the net.
BARCELONA, April 22 (Reuters) - Juan Carlos Ferrero's revival continued with an enthralling 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over Gaston Gaudio on Friday which earned him a place in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard showed he is recovering the sort of form that saw him win the French Open in 2003 with a superb display of claycourt tennis against the second seeded Argentine, who succeeded him as champion at Roland Garros.
Ferrero edged an evenly balanced first set after earning himself a break point in the 10th game with a delicate drop volley and then finished off with a clever crosscourt winner.
Gaudio, the only one of the top six seeds to make it into the quarter-finals, fought back hard to claim a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set and although Ferrero pulled it back to 5-4 he wrapped up with a confident service game.
Neither player gave any quarter in the decisive third set, trading a succession of powerful ground strokes during the course of some lengthy rallies.
But a highly-focused Ferrero stretched his opponent around the court and gained the crucial breakthrough in the eighth game, breaking to go 5-3 up when he forced Gaudio into a forehand error and the Argentine then double faulted.
Gaudio saved three match points, but Ferrero earned himself a fourth with a sizzling running pass and the world number eight finally succumbed when he put his return into the net.
