ABU DHABI // Rafael Nadal has defeated David Ferrer in 21 of their 26 official meetings over the years, won two Mubadala World Tennis Championship and has the type of hall-of-fame pedigree that would cause many foes to cringe.
That certainly is not the case at the moment with the feisty Ferrer, who easily won his opening-round match at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex on Thursday night and will face the reigning world No 1 in the semi-finals on Friday.
“I think I have a chance with Rafael on a hard court,” said Ferrer, the world No 3.
The Spaniard, 31, probably the most brutally honest player in tennis, would not make that assessment if it did not contain an element of truth. While the record between the compatriots is lopsided, Ferrer has a 4-4 record against Nadal on hard-court surfaces, such as that at the Zayed Sports City venue.
Ferrer ousted the world No 8 Stanislas Wawrinka in 70 minutes in a 7-5, 6-1 victory that was more emphatic than the score line.
After Wawrinka broke Ferrer’s serve to take a 5-3 lead in the first set, Ferrer won nine games in succession to take command.
“Stan, I think maybe he lost his focus a little bit,” Ferrer said.
Not much chance of that happening to Ferrer, especially against Nadal, 27. They played six times in 2013, with Nadal winning five. Ferrer beat Nadal in Paris last season but lost to him in London, Rome, Madrid, Acapulco and, most notably, at the finals of the French Open. The latter was Ferrer’s first appearance in a grand slam final.
Ferrer laughed when it was noted how often the two have played of late. Today’s match “will be another one”, he said.
In a way, Ferrer is a different player from the man who played in Abu Dhabi 12 months ago – and that is not a reference to the 70-minute pummelling he suffered at the hands of Novak Djokovic in his first Mubadala match last year.
In an off-season surprise, Ferrer this month parted ways with his coach of 15 years, Javier Piles, odd timing in that 2013 marked his highest world ranking and his first grand slam final.
Wawrinka had trouble with his serve, putting only 48 per cent of his first serves in play. He said he was impressed by Ferrer, an overachiever who few like to face as he fights to the end of every point.
“That is why he is so good for so many years, and why he has that ranking,” Wawrinka said. “It’s always a good fight.”
selling@thenational.ae
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Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
MATCH DETAILS
Barcelona 0
Slavia Prague 0
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'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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Jawan
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5