ROME (AP)—David Ferrer beat a sluggish Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3 Saturday to advance to his first Masters Series final.
Verdasco jumped out to a 5-1 lead over his fellow Spaniard at the Rome Masters, but then lost six straight games to hand Ferrer the set and control of the match.
Verdasco appeared worn out from his quarterfinal victory over Novak Djokovic a day earlier—a match that lasted 3 hours, 18 minutes.
“It was a very physical match against Novak yesterday. I was feeling good mentally, but my body was not feeling good,” Verdasco said. “I wasn’t just tired after 5-1. I was tired every since I woke up this morning.
“He was making unforced errors (at the start). I wasn’t playing unbelievable.”
In Sunday’s final, the 13th-seeded Ferrer will face either four-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal or 40th-ranked Ernests Gulbis, who were up next inside the new 10,500-seat stadium at the Foro Italico.
The sixth-seeded Verdasco had reached the final of his last two tournaments — losing to Nadal in Monte Carlo two weeks ago and beating Robin Soderling to win the Barcelona Open last weekend. He showed little of the blistering groundstrokes of his recent matches, however, and had trouble running down Ferrer’s frequent drop shots.
Verdasco also had three costly double faults at the end of the first set, including one to let Ferrer even the set at 5-5.
Verdasco managed to win a 29-point rally in the final game, but then had to lean on his racket to gather his breath. On the next point, he hit a forehand wide of the doubles alley, and Ferrer then converted his first match point with a routine volley put away.
Verdasco had won his previous three meetings with Ferrer, winning 6-1 in the third set in the Barcelona semifinals.
Ferrer has not dropped a set this week and leads the tour with 23 wins on clay this season.
Despite the loss, Verdasco will be one of the favorites for the upcoming Madrid Masters and the French Open, which begins May 23.
“These were the best three weeks of my life and my career,” Verdasco said. “I need to stay positive, recover for a few days and practice hard to be perfect for Madrid and Roland Garros.”
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