David Ferrer and Australian Open 2013

David Ferrer had a career year in 2012 winning 7 tour level titles, the most of any player in 2012. He won his first ATP Masters title in 2012 as well at Paris Bercy.

Ferrer started his 2013 campaign in Qatar ExxonMobil Open, however he was crushed in the semi-finals by Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets. Ferrer won just 5 games in that match.

Ferrer is playing in Auckland, where he is the two time defending champion and will be playing the quarter-finals tomorrow against Lukas Lacko. Ferrer had trouble in his opener at Auckland against Yen-Hsun Lu, needing 3 sets to win.

Ferrer at 30 years of age should have taken this week off, to rest and prepare for the Australian Open, but he opted to play in Auckland, which puts doubt on how much will he have in tank for the Australian Open.

Let us see how far can Ferru make it into the Australian Open.

With the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer grabbed the 4^th seed for the Australian Open.

David Ferrer and Australian Open 2013 – Based on the past results of 4^th seeds at the Australian Open:

Image via en.wikipedia.org

Given the history of 4th seeds at Australian Open, they have made it to the final on 3 occasions (1988, 1996, 2005), winning it on 2 occasions. Boris Becker did it in 1996 when as a 4^th seeded he defeated 6^th seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarter-finals, un-seeded Mark Woodforde in the semi-finals and 5^th seeded Michael Chang in the final.  Marat Safin did it again in 2005, when as a 4^th seed he defeated then top seed Roger Federer in the semi-finals in 5 gripping sets 9-7 in the fifth set. The final score of the match was 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-6(6) 9-7. Safin then defeated the 3^rd seeded Australian Lleyton Hewit in the final in 4 sets to claim his second and last grand slam title.

David Ferrer has yet to make it to the final of a grand slam and given the history of 4^th seeded players, Ferrer’s chances of making it to the quarter-final or better of the Australian Open are 52%. Ferrer has a 12% chance of making it to the final of the Australian Open.

David Ferrer and Australian Open 2013 – Based on the past results of Ferrer at Australian Open:

Ferrer is 23-10 life-time at the Australian Open and his best showing in the Australian Open came in 2011, when he went on to the reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. En-route he defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals in straight sets, but lost in 4 tight sets in the semi-final at the hands of Andy Murray, 6-4, 6-7(2), 1-6, 6-7(2).

Ferrer has made the quarter-finals or better for the last two years at the Australian Open. 4 of his 10 losses at the Australian Open have come at the hands of top 10 players.

It is tough seeing Ferrer move past the semi-finals of the Australian Open, if he makes it to the semi-finals. He will definitely need help with some up-sets of the BIG 3.

Ferrer played at Qatar ExxonMobil Open in the first week of the Australian Open and is playing in Auckland this week. The temperature in Australia is soaring. Ferrer is 30 years old and with two weeks of consecutive play before the grand slam and hot weather at the grand slam, it will be tough for him to make his move. That said, Ferrer is one of the fittest players on the tour and can run all day on court, which makes him tough to beat. However, he will have to be more aggressive if he wants to make it to his first grand slam final at the Australian Open.

How far do you see David Ferrer going into the Australian Open?

P.S: Stay tuned for the previews of Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic.

For a preview of other players please refer below:

Agnnieszka Radwanska and Australian Open 2013

Angelique Kerber and Australian Open 2013

Tomas Berdych and Australian Open 2013

Li Na and Australian Open 2013

Juan Martin Delpotro and Australian Open 2013

Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Australian Open 2013

Sara Errani and Australian Open 2013
Janko Tipsarevic and Australian Open 2013
Petra Kvitova and Australian Open 2013