Ferrer bewildered after win

Clay court specialist David Ferrer was struggling to explain his success on hard courts after reaching the semi-final of the US Open with a straight-sets win over Juan Ignacio Chela in New York.

Ferrer booked his place in the last four, the furthest he has progressed in a grand slam, with a 6-2 6-3 7-5 win over the Argentinian 20th seed at Flushing Meadows.

The number 15 seed, who in the previous round had upset fellow Spaniard and second seed Rafael Nadal, was always in control and will now play the winner of the quarter-final between third seed Novak Djokovic and number 17 Carlos Moya.

“I’m playing very well in hard court and it’s unbelievable,” Ferrer said. “Maybe the last three matches is my best tennis.

“The first semi-final in my career on hard court. I play more on clay. If you had told me before that I would make a semi-final in hard court I wouldn’t believe you. I believe on clay maybe but on hard court?

“This tournament is a dream. I’m really happy.”

Chela came into the match following two tough five-set victories in the preceding rounds, beating 12th seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the third round and outlasting Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka in another five-set marathon on Tuesday.

Ferrer, too, had needed all his energy to first defeat David Nalbandian and then wear down Nadal and both men had logged more than 11 hours on court to reach the last eight.

But it was fellow clay court specialist and baseline slugger Chela for whom this was a match too far.

Ferrer quickly took control of the opening set as the two players traded powerful ground strokes in long rallies typical of matches on clay.

The Spaniard broke Chela’s serve early and did so again to take the first set 6-2 before gaining the upper hand in the second set by breaking the Argentine in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead.

“That was my only real chance,” Chela conceded. “I was ahead on the scoreboard but he broke me back right away.

“He returned very well in that game, so that (opportunity) was gone very quickly.”

There was no questioning Chela’s commitment and effort and he made Ferrer fight tooth and nail for the second set, saving set points on his serve in a lengthy eighth game he rescued at 2-5 down.

There was nothing he could do, though, as Ferrer served out in the next game to take a 2-0 lead after an hour and 15 minutes.

Chela, though, was not going quietly out of these championships and having served strongly to take the opening game of the third set, he broke serve in the next game just as Ferrer was looking to kill the match off.

Unfortunately for Chela, Ferrer hit straight back to get back on serve at 2-1.

The Argentinian dug in from there to frustrate the 15th seed but eventually cracked in the 11th game when a weak backhand into the net handed Ferrer the all-important break.

Ferrer served for the match at 6-5 and did not hang about in killing it off. He gave himself three match points before delivering an ace on his second serve to reach his first grand slam semi-final.

Chela said Ferrer’s upset of Nadal could now be put into perspective, given that much of the emphasis on that fourth-round contest had focused on the second seed’s knee problems.

“I think you shouldn’t really focus or speculate on Nadal’s injuries,” the Argentinian said. “You just need to look at how well Ferrer is playing right now.”