(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Just when we thought David Ferrer had this weeks title in Holland all locked up, the third seed was bounced in convincing fashion today by unheralded compatriot Ivan Navarro 6-4, 6-2.
While Ferrer was fumbling around center court today, he would have been best advised to have viewed his opponents career wins on grass prior to the coin toss. With a staging three wins on grass to his name (kidding of course), Navarro had by no means accumulated a legendary grass-court resume. But you wouldn't have thought that today.
Navarro had Ferrer going every which way during their encounter, employing more of a clay-court designed outlook to the match—surprisingly Ferrer could not keep up.
Navarro's numbers for the contest were not fantastic, but he certainly got the job done. His three aces, 70 percent of first serve points won and three breaks of serve, were not be match by Ferrer.
By contrast, David only managed to win 69 percent of first serve points (which is low for him) hit four aces, and failed on five break-point opportunities. The five missed chances to break the Navarro serve hurt Ferrer the most, with his return-of-serve being one of the best in the business.
The crisis of confidence which Ferrer is currently under-going will hopefully be figured out in a few days time, with The Championships overlooking the tennis world.
In the meantime, Navarro will head into the semifinals of the Ordina Open (his best grass-court finish to date), where he will meet Raemon Sluiter or Dudi Sela, who will be taking the court later on Day Five action.
Other matches that were completed on Thursday's action in Holland saw:
Benjamin Becker pound his way through Michael Llorda of France 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; fourth seed Rainer Schuettler grind past Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 7-6 (11-9) in 2:29 minutes.
Becker used his boom-boom (no Boris Becker reference of course) serve to stay toe-to-toe with Llodra who has a hefty serve of his own. The final ace count for these two rocket launchers: Becker (14); Llodra (10).
Becker was also able to obtain one more break of serve over his French opponent today. Becker also sealed his second straight quarterfinal or better in as many weeks. Match time: 1:29 minutes.
Rainer Schuettler also did himself proud today by escaping the French flair of Jeremy Chardy to set-up a German semifinal showdown with Becker.
Schuettler has not been in the best of form as of late.
He was destroyed in his last clay-court match of the year by Marc Gicquel love, love and four, at the French Open. A week before that in Germany no-less Robin Soderling threw in a double-bagel him in Dusseldorf. That's a lot to overcome, for any player.
But with a hard work ethic and a grinder-by-blood mentally, Schuettler managed to pick himself up and has found himself in an ATP World Tour semifinal.
The win could not have come at a better time for the German with his semifinal points at Wimbledon to defend. Those points are the very essence as to why Rainer is still ranked in the top 30 in the world. An earlier exit at SW19 could lead a quick a frustrated foot into retirement.
Nevertheless, Schuettler's win over Chardy, which took 2:29 minutes to complete, showcased the years of experience the German had over his young French opponent.
Chardy actually won two more points in the contest over Schuettler, with the German, "winning the big points."
Becker and Schuettler have met once on the ATP World Tour, which was just last week in Halle. Becker ended up winning that affair 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, with the younger German being the odds on favorite once again.
Please check back as I will have a semifinal wrap-up from both Eastbourne, Great Briton — AEGON International and 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands — Ordina Open.
You can catch Nima daily at: http://tennisconnected.com/
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