Ferrer Prevails for First Hard Court Title
Spanish third seed David Ferrer charged to victory after downing compatriot and top seed Tommy Robredo in a rain-affected final at the Heineken Open in Auckland.
Despite three false starts during the day, play finally got underway for good around 5:00pm (local time) and Ferrer wasted little time marching to his third career title, but his first on clay court.
Starting the match on time at 1:00pm, the pair were on centre-court for less than five minutes as the Auckland heavens opened up, much to the organisers' dismay.
There was then a break of nearly three hours with play resuming with Robredo 1-0 up but Ferrer looking in sharp touch as he raced to a 3-1 lead before rain hit again.
This time, however, the shower was short-lived and not long after, the pair were back on court gunning for the title.
After all the delays, Robredo ranked at No6 appeared more composed in his fourth appearance on centre-court and he finally converted a break-point to level proceedings 4-4.
But Ferrer the Spanish No2 behind Robredo, backing up his scintillating form in Friday night's semi-final, was not about to let the top seed back into the contest and a service break shortly after saw him take the first set 6-4.
With momentum on his side Ferrer, ranked 16th in the world, then edged a step closer to hoisting the trophy when he broke Robredo's opening service game of the second set.
Quickly racing to a 3-1 lead, Ferrer continued his devastating baseline play and Robredo, ranked seventh in the world, struggled to find answers as he dropped another service game.
This proved to be the final straw and the Spaniard, making the most of his chances, sealed victory with a stunning last service game to win 6-2 in just under two hours.
"When I play against him, it's always tough. He is at a very good level and he is a very strong player. In the first set he had more chances but in the second and third I played better," said Ferrer “I am very happy. It’s my first tournament on hard court. It’s unbelievable. I won over Tommy. He’s a Top 10 [player] and it’s important for me. Today, I played my best tennis of the week. Every point was at a good level.”
Robredo believed there was nothing he could do about the way Ferrer was playing and how he ran down every ball in every rally.
“David was playing so good. I think playing with wind was better for him because he plays with two-hand backhand and me one, and he doesn’t miss much. He was just a little bit better today and he beat me,” said Robredo.
The doubles final is still to be completed.
