Gasquet Reaches U.S. Open Semis After Upset Win Over Ferrer
French eighth seed Richard Gasquet reached his first U.S. Open semifinal on Wednesday with a five-set upset win, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3 over David Ferrer, the number four seed. Gasquet, will be making only his second appearance in a major semifinal (Wimbledon in 2007) and he is the first Frenchman to get to the semifinals in New York since Cedric Pioline in 1999.
Ferrer had dominated Gasquet in prior matchups, holding an 8-1 lifetime record against the Frenchman, making today’s outcome that much more surprising. It was only his second win in 10 meetings with Ferrer, a series which had also seen him claim just two sets out of 20.
"I have a lot of experience, but I lost a little bit of my focus," said Ferrer. "Next time, I will try to be more focused. My goal is to improve my game."
On Wednesday, it was a back and forth battle. Gasquet jumped out early, adjusting much better to the windy conditions and winning the first two sets. Ferrer then fought back, evening the match at two sets all while hitting tremendous groundstrokes. In the fifth set, one break was all that Gasquet needed, and at 5-3, he served out the match for the win.
"Even if I was leading two sets to love, I knew it was David Ferrer," said Gasquet. "I know he’s a big fighter, so I knew it was not over. He played well in the start of the third set. In the fourth set, I played well too, but he was a little bit better than me, so I knew I had to keep my serve in the fifth, and that’s what I did."
Next up for Gasquet will be a semifinals matchup with either world number two Rafael Nadal, against whom he has lost all 10 meetings, or fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo. The two play under the lights Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Credit all photos to Adam Wolfthal
Spain’s David Ferrer was denied a trip to the 2013 U.S. Open semis on Wednesday afternoon
Richard Gasquet is headed to the U.S. Open semis for the first time in his career
