David Ferrer and Andy Murray will renew their friendly but high-stakes rivalry when they face each other again on Saturday in Valencia. The winner will book a spot in the title match and take a huge step toward the World Tour Finals.
David Ferrer and Andy Murray will be squaring off for the 15th time in their careers and for the third time in the last 17 days when they meet again in the Valencia Open semifinals on Saturday. Murray leads the head-to-head series 8-6, including 7-2 on hard courts. However, they have split their two previous fall-swing encounters; Ferrer prevailed 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Shanghai before Murray triumphed 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in last week’s Vienna final.
More than just a berth in the Valencia title match will be at stake in this one. Murray and Ferrer are currently eighth and ninth in the race to the World Tour Finals, respectively. The loser will be no better than ninth after this week while Murray could climb as high as fifth and Ferrer could reach No. 6 with a title. Both, though, are in good shape to qualify regardless of Saturday’s result thanks to Rafael Nadal’s likely withdrawal and Milos Raonic’s Basel quarterfinal loss to David Goffin.
Murray’s status for London has been questionable throughout the 2014 campaign. The 10th-ranked Scot underwent back surgery in 2013 and was slow to get going this season, but he is once again showing his best form. So far this fall, Murray has won titles in Shenzhen and Vienna and he booked his spot in this week’s semis by taking out Jurgen Melzer, Fabio Fognini, and Kevin Anderson.
Ferrer has been consistently solid but unspectacular this year. He, too, is playing some of his best tennis this fall. The 32-year-old Spaniard reached the quarterfinals in Shanghai, finished runner-up to Murray in Vienna, and he boasts Valencia victories over Andreas Seppi, Fernando Verdasco, and Thomaz Bellucci.
“It’s going to be a tough match,” said Ferrer. “Tomorrow is a very important match for both players. I will try to do my best because whoever wins tomorrow will have a lot of options to be in London.”
“[It] will be an important match, as was last week and also in Shanghai,” Murray assured. “But even if I don’t win the tournament this week, I will still have an opportunity in Paris if I play well there.”
The two-time Grand Slam champion may have to do just that, because a very difficult test awaits him on Saturday. Ferrer has home-court advantage–in his hometown, no less–and the court is not playing fast. The No. 1 seed was especially impressive in the quarters, whereas Murray struggled, so Ferrer should be able to turn the tide of this rivalry back in his favor.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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Next week is going to be akin to the Nouvelle Beaujolais race to London
Edit of the above:
Should read: Next week is going to be akin to the Beaujolais Nouveau marathon as players beat a hasty retreat from Paris in order to be the first to arrive London…………
Thought you meant they’d be all punch drunk!