Ferrer win puts Nadal in semis

The hottest player along with Andy Roddick, who has clinched the Red Group and faces top-ranked Roger Federer on Friday, Ferrer said he didn’t seriously think he had a chance to advance. But he has managed to stay focused on every point and is playing with great confidence, so he has been forced to rethink his prospects while trying not to look too far ahead.

“For me it’s important to play the semi-final,” said Ferrer, who also reached the US Open semi-finals and is already guaranteed of earning his biggest paycheck ever.

Nadal was pretty happy, too, after playing his best match so far. With both knees taped as in recent weeks and tired after a long season, he demonstrated his determination not to lose, no matter how he was feeling. He had Djokovic, who has admitted to exhaustion from more than 100 matches this year and off-court demands on his time, in almost constant trouble.

Djokovic fended off two break points in the first game, then saw Nadal run off four straight games to take control. The Serb showed flashes of the skills that carried him from No 16 in the rankings in January to five titles and No 3 in the world.

But, too often, the Serb’s shoulders were slumping as shots that would have been winners earlier in the year were just missing. He gave a bitter smile when he netted a forehand as Nadal served at 5-4 in the first set, then trudged to his chair when he sent a backhand long on set point.

Nadal got an early break in the second set and was increasingly demonstrative as the match wore on. The Spaniard, serving at 4-3, pumped his fist eight times after fending off the second of Djokovic’s two break points with a great backhand volley for a player not known for his net game.

Nadal smacked a forehand winner down the line on match point. “It wasn’t my week,” Djokovic said. “I wasn’t performing the way I wanted to. Unfortunately I have to finish with the three losses, which is a bit disappointing. But, of course, I don’t want to think negative. It’s been an amazing year.”

Ferrer needed only 59 minutes to beat Gasquet, who never got going after looking sharp while beating Djokovic in his previous match. Ferrer won his group by taking all three of his matches while dropping only one set, to Nadal.

Gasquet broke him in the first game, but Ferrer then ran off eight games in a row. Gasquet did not hold serve until he already was down 2-0 in the second set. Constantly on the run from Ferrer’s deep groundstrokes, he managed to win just 12 of 39 points on his serve and had five winners to 25 unforced errors.

Advancing to the men’s doubles semi-finals were second-seeded Paul Hanley of Australia and Kevin Ullyet of Zimbabwe, along with Martin Damm of the Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India. Hanley and Ullyet beat Damm and Paes, who already had advanced, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Gold Group.