David Ferrer Marches On In The Big Apple, Faces Hewitt Next

Written by: Staff on 31st August 2012

David Ferrer Marches On In The Big Apple, Faces Hewitt Next |

(Original Story: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/35/US-Open-Friday-Ferrer-Powers-Through.aspx)

World No. 5 David Ferrer booked his spot in the third round of the US Open on Friday at Flushing Meadows as he held off a late fightback from Igor Sijsling to prevail 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(12). The Spaniard kept his unforced error count down at 20, compared to 43 from his Dutch opponent, and converted four of his 13 break points for victory in two hours and seven minutes.

The 30-year-old Ferrer is through to the third round in New York for the seventh time in 10 visits. The Valencia native went onto reach the semi-finals in 2007, beating countryman Rafael Nadal en route before falling to Novak Djokovic. The right-hander has reached at least the quarter-finals in all three Grand Slam championships so far this season, going on to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).

For a place in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, Ferrer, a five-time titlist on the ATP World Tour this season, will face 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who battled past Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4 in four hours and 35 minutes.

“It’s great,” Hewitt said of the drama in the fifth set. “That’s why you still play the game. It all happens pretty quick when you’re actually out there playing. Sometimes you wish you had a few more seconds to just sort of soak it up and enjoy the moment a little bit more.”

The 31-year-old Adelaide native defeated Pete Sampras in the 2001 final and also reached the final in 2004 (l. to Federer).

World No. 254 Steve Johnson continued his fairytale run at Flushing Meadows. In just his second Grand Slam main draw, the 22-year-old Californian is through to the third round after ousting Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 11 minutes. Gulbis, who had beaten Tommy Haas from two sets down in the first round, failed to convert any of his nine break points.

“Feels pretty good,” said Johnson. “All the hard work I put in since last year losing in five sets really has paid off. I’m very happy to see that it has paid off. You always come out here thinking you’re going to win. I had a great couple of weeks leading up to the Open. I got a lot of the nerves out in the first round against Rajeev [Ram] and kind of settled down today as well and was able to play really good tennis.”

Next up for Johnson will be French No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet, who recorded a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over American Bradley Klahn, the World No. 489 who had upset Jurgen Melzer in the first round. Gasquet, a recent finalist at the Rogers Cup in Toronto (l. to Djokovic), ended the qualifier’s spirited campaign by converting five of his 15 break points.

Topics: David Ferrer, Igor Sijsling, Lleyton Hewitt, New York tennis news, Sports, Tennis News, US Open