A completely meaningless match in terms of future bearing on the tournament will take place when fellow Spaniards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer collide at the World Tour Finals on Friday. Nadal has already clinched the group, while Ferrer is out.
Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will be facing each other for the 30th time in their careers when they wrap up their round-robin campaigns at the World Tour Finals on Friday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 23-6, but it stands at a far more competitive 5-4 in Nadal’s favor on hard courts. The two Spaniards most recently squared off in their only meeting of 2015 on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Nadal survived a quarterfinal test 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Fast forward seven months and this is a strikingly different world No. 5. So far this fall, Nadal has finished runner-up in Beijing and Basel, made a run to the Shanghai semifinals, and reached the quarters in Paris. At none of those four events, however, did he perform better than he has through two London matches. Nadal cruised past Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2 then erased Andy Murray 6-4, 6-1.
This is the first time since Rome in 2013 that the 14-time major champion has defeated two top-four players in the same tournament.
Ferrer also stormed into the O2 with plenty of momentum, having captured recent titles in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna. But once again a steep step up in competition has proven to be too much for Ferrer to handle. The seventh-ranked Spaniard lost his opener to Murray 6-4, 6-4 before blowing a 5-2 first-set lead against Wawrinka and falling 7-5, 6-2.
Ferrer’s baseline game has been solid this week, but his serve has given him no chance so succeed against the best players in the world. In two outings, the 33-year-old has combined for zero aces and 11 double-faults (eight against Murray, three against Wawrinka).
A proverbial “dead” match is not a particularly enthralling proposition for the fans, but if you could pick two players to contest such a match, Nadal and Ferrer would be the two. Their effort levels can never be questioned regardless of circumstances. Unfortunately for Ferrer, Nadal’s best effort vs. his own best effort is a significant mismatch right now.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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🙂 it was bound to happen
I would be really happy if Rafa makes short work of this match. I want him as fresh as possible for Novak.
!0 minutes and Rafa has won four times more points than Ferrer
oops , Ferru seems to be waking up
Ferrer breaks Rafa’s serve in the 4th game.
Ferrer is intent on making a match of this.
Unfortunately, I would expect nothing less from him. Rafa has to be equally intent on not making a match of it!
Yes, Ferrer has woken up. He’s gotten one break back. Rafa needs to stay focused and win this set. No more breaks of serve, Rafa!
Ferru breaks again, 3-3..what the * is wrong with Rafa?!
Rafa drops his serve for the 2nd time.
Rafa went into a hibernating mode…Wake up, Rafa!!!
Nothing Shireling. Dont panic.
Ferrer has suddenly remembered how to serve.
4-3 Ferrer…
It’s now back on serve. Ferrer 4:3. Rafa to serve.
5-4 Ferrer, Rafa serving to stay alive in set 1
Rafa is mastered “how to bring the opponent back into the match”…
5-5
I doubt Rafa would be prepared to annihilate Ferrer today even if he has the chance.
Ferrer suddenly remembered it was Rafa he was playing 🙂
Rafa serving for the match. Hope he practices to do that on the first set point.
Ferrer is an incredibly nice guy.. judging from interviews I’ve listened to and read
he is.. and they are friends…
Rafa breaks