David Ferrer came into this week with a shockingly poor 9-11 lifetime singles record at the BNP Paribas Open, six times losing his first match of the tournament. A spirited performance by Ivan Dodig on Saturday evening almost extended that number to seven.
Instead, Ferrer gutted out a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) second-round thriller that lasted two hours and 42 minutes. The eighth-ranked Spaniard steadied himself after failing to serve out the match at 6-5 in the third set and recovered from a 5-3 deficit in the decisive tiebreaker.
With a solid 6-3, 7-5 victory over Joao Sousa already under his belt in Indian Wells while his opponent was making a transition from clay to a hard court, Dodig raced to a fast start. The Croat gave back an early break but seized a second scalp of Ferrer’s serve before closing out the opening frame of play at 5-4.
A routine second set for Ferrer led to a dramatic third. Both men produced their best tennis as 10 consecutive holds resulted in a 5-5 deadlock, at which point they traded service breaks. In the ‘breaker, Dodig twice gave back mini-break advantages–although it was no fault of his own. Ferrer came up with a perfect backhand return at 1-3 and crushed a lunging forehand return at 3-5. Dodig, who had already saved two match points a game earlier, fought off another one at 5-6. At long last, a netted drop-shot by the world No. 96 put an end to the drama.
At least one fellow professional was enthralled by the proceedings.
“Watching @DavidFerrer87 vs @DodigTennis on @TennisTV. Phenomenal match! #tennis #BNPO15″ is what Sergiy Stahovsky posted on Twitter.
Then shortly thereafter from Stakhovsky: “Are you watching this??? Incredible!! #tennis #BNPO15″.
Ferrer has also advanced a round in the doubles bracket. Teaming up with Fernando Verdasco, the all-Spanish duo downed Grigor Dimitrov and Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4 on Friday. They will face Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor on Sunday.
As for Verdasco, he took care of qualifier James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6(3) during second-round singles action on Saturday.
Topics: BNP Paribas Open, David Ferrer, Indian Wells, Ivan Dodig, Tennis
-@DavidFerrer87 WINS THRILLER OVER @DodigTennis, SPANIARDS STAY HOT IN #IndianWells CALIFORNIA BY @Dimonator http://t.co/7umN2Oy6Tn #BNPPO15
RT @TennisNewsOne: FERRER WINS THRILLER OVER DODIG, SPANIARDS STAY HOT IN INDIAN WELLS CALIFORNIA BY RICKY DIMON WHO IS A… http://t.co/SM…