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Spaniard Rafael Nadal faces countryman David Ferrer in the first semi-final of the French Open that begins at 9pm AEST tonight at Roland Garros. Join us for live scores of the French Open mens semi final 1.
Not too many believe that Ferrer has a chance against the second seed. He probably would have had some hope against Roger Federer or even Novak Djokovic.
Against Nadal at Roland Garros? Not so. In fact, if Ferrer is to be believed, the task of beating Nadal is “almost impossible”.
Nadal is imperious here.
Speaking to the media and extolling the virtues of his opponent on clay, Ferrer noted, “I think you can win a set to Rafa, but there is a difference between winning a set and winning a match. Winning a match against Rafa is almost impossible. He is in such good shape.”
Nadal will go into the match having not dropped a set in the tournament so far. In fact, in the quarter-finals against Nicolas Almagro, he faced his first tie-breaker of the French Open and one that he won easily.
The second seed’s dominance can be seen from his wins in the first four rounds this year. En route dropping only one game on his own serve out of 61, Nadal has lost only 19 games against his opponents – the least he has given up in four rounds of any French Open edition ever!
Not that Nadal’s form has been exemplary only this French Open. Barring the loss on the blue clay of ATP Madrid, he has won every other match and goes into this semi-final with a 21-1 record on this surface.
That freak loss at Madrid apart, Nadal’s won the Rome Masters, Barcelona Masters and ATP Monte-Carlo this year.
Not that Ferrer has been a pushover. He has a decent 26-4 record on clay this year and two of those defeats have come at the hands of Nadal.
In the quarter-finals, Ferrer dropped his first set of the tournament in beating the fourth seeded Andy Murray. Surprisingly, that put him into his first ever French Open semi-final and his third in Grand Slam tennis.
His first four rounds mirrored Nadal’s performances as he routed Lukas Lacko, Benoit Paire, Mikhail Youzhny and Marcel Granollers without losing a set. Against Murray, he was a comprehensive winner despite the second set tie-breaker that he conceded.
Between the two, Nadal has won 16 of the 21 matches played. The enormity of the task on hand and Ferrer’s lack of confidence – or reverence towards the second seed – is amply proved by the fact that the only time of 13 matches on clay that he has beaten Nadal was way back in 2004.
Since then, Nadal has won 12 in a row! It will hardly be a surprise then, if it is victory number 13 tonight at the Court Philippe Chatrier for Nadal that helps him through to his seventh French Open final.
We’ll have live scores as the game commences at approximately 9pm AEST (1pm local)
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