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Thursday 7 June 2012

The Spanish Derby (Nadal(2) vs Ferrer (6) Roland Garros 2012 Semi-Final Preview)

We have block buster semi-finals at Roland Garros 2012 with Swiss Mastero vs Serbian Magician and the all Spanish affair. The Spanish Derby is set with Nadal aiming to reach his 7th Roland Garros final and have a shot at record breaking 7th Roland Garros title, while Ferrer who is in his first Roland Garros semi-final, aiming to reach his first ever Grand Slam final. On Wednesday,  3 Spaniards took the courts who had not lost a set so far in the tournament , however, only Nadal came out unharmed without loosing a set and sent Almagro home in straight sets, while Ferrer lost a set to Murray in the ensuing battle between the two.

Nadal will be the favourite when he takes on the court on Firday, as Ferrer has already said so:  "I think you can win a set to Rafa, but there is a difference between winning a set and winning a match. Winning a match against Rafa is almost impossible. He is in such good shape". Ferrer saying so, seems that he has already given up his hopes of beating Nadal, which will only make the job easier for Nadal.

Let us have a look into the clash:

Description    Nadal       Ferrer    
Match Record This year        38-7       38-4
H2H       15       4
H2H on clay       12       1


Ferrer's lone victory over Nadal on clay came in 2004 when they met for the first time in the QF of stuggart in 2004, since then Nadal has lost only 2 sets in the pairs 12 meetings on clay. The have already met twice on clay this year, in the final of Barcelona (Nadal won 76 75) and in the semi-finals of Rome (Nadal won 76 60).

Let us have a look at the stats regarding their performance so far in the tournament:


Description         Nadal             Ferrer       
1st Serve %          64%        67%
1st Serve Points Won          79%        74%
2nd Serve Points Won          61%        53%
Break Points Saved          94%        76%
1st Return Points Won          42%        40%
2nd Return Points Won              64%        64%
Break Points converted          60%        46%


Nadal has been broken only once in the tournament so far, while Ferrer has been broken 8 times. There is not a single department in the stats where Ferrer is better than Nadal (other than the 1st serve %age, that advantage too is neutralised by the %age won  by  both players).

Enjoy some highlights of the Nadal's win over Ferrer at Barcelona
Ferrer will have to play the match of his life if he is to have any chance against Nadal, but guessing from his recent press comments, it seems he has already given up on it. Let us hope for a great match.
Nadal in straight sets.

* The picture and the video used in this article are not my property.

2 comments:

  1. I am more interested in what Nadal's gonna do in the Final. I hope its the fedrer. Jokovic seems too tough to defeat so far :((

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  2. I too am keeping my fingers crossed for Federer :)
    But all the credit to Nadal, he is 50-1 at ROland Garros, and his lone loss coming at the hands of Soderling in 2009.

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