Ferrer hustles to Open semis
Djokovic in familiar spot
NEW YORK — With his highenergy brand of leg-churning, ball- chasing tennis, fourth- seeded David Ferrer outlasted eighthseeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2- 6, 6-3, 7- 6 (4) in 4 hours, 31 minutes Thursday to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the second time.
Playing terrific defense and catching lines with his shots all night long, defending champion Novak Djokovic beat 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the semifinals at a 10th consecutive Grand Slam tournament. The Open semifinals are Saturday and the final is Sunday.
Djokovic’s second set lasted 84 minutes, 11 longer than his entire first-round victory last week.
Earlier, Ferrer trailed 4-1 in the last set, but in the next game, Tipsarevic slammed to the ground while chasing a drop shot and stayed down for a few moments. Tipsarevic later had his right thigh taped.
When the match ended on Tipsarevic’s backhand into the net, Ferrer raised his arms, then knelt near the baseline.
“I don’t have words,” said Ferrer, who reached the semifinals at the French Open in June. “It was a very emotional match.”
Olympic champion Andy Murray and 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych — who eliminated 17-time major champion Roger Federer in four sets — earned semifinal berths Wednesday.
Ferrer is the only man left who has never reached a Grand Slam final.
The 28-year- old Tip- sarevic was playing in his second quarterfinal in 35 career Grand Slam tournaments.
“It was a really, really tough match,” Ferrer said. “Janko — he’s an amazing player ... and he also deserves to win today.”
Ferrer broke Tipsarevic to go ahead 5-3 in the fourth, then served it out at love. Tipsarevic saved break points in the fifth set’s opening game, then went ahead 2-0 by breaking Ferrer with a volley winner and eventually made it 4-1. On the last point of the sixth game, though, Tipsarevic’s left foot gave out as he tried to chase Ferrer’s drop shot. Tipsarevic landed on his left hip with a thud.
Ferrer walked up to the net to check on Tipsarevic, who gave him a thumb’s up then limped to the sideline and gathered himself. In the next game, Ferrer broke to close to 4-3. One hold of serve later, it was even.
Facing two break points at 4- 4, 15- 40 in the fifth set — if Ferrer made one of those chances, he would have served for the victory — Tipsarevic asked for a medical timeout after grabbing his upper right leg in the middle of a point.
A trainer came out to assess Tipsarevic’s injury, then taped up the thigh. Play resumed, and Ferrer lost four points in a row. Tipsarevic sprinted forward to hit a volley winner, erasing the first break point, then took care of the second with a service winner and wound up holding to lead 5-4.
When Ferrer’s volley winner made it 5-5 soon thereafter, he yelled “Vamos!” at Tipsarevic.
Two games later, as the concluding tiebreaker was about to begin, fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium rose to salute both players with a standing ovation. Ten minutes later, Ferrer was the one celebrating.