Federer, Ferrer advance to Masters Cup final

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Roger Federer and David Ferrer were semifinal winners Saturday at the Tennis Masters Cup and will play for the title of the lucrative season-ending event on Sunday.
The top-seeded Federer had a surprisingly easy match against nemesis Rafael Nadal, posting a 6-4, 6-1 triumph, while the sixth-seeded Ferrer cruised past American Andy Roddick, 6-1, 6-3.
Federer's 59-minute victory against Nadal was his most one-sided in the rivalry, which the Swiss star has recently dominated. The world No. 1 has captured five of the last seven matches with the Spanish sensation, losing only in the finale at the Monte Carlo Masters and French Open this spring.
"For me to beat him on hard court indoors is a great result," said Federer, who is now 6-8 lifetime against Nadal. "And the way I played today, I wish I could play every time like this against him. But it's not that easy."
Nadal had a few chances in the first set. He led 0-30 in the fifth game, but four straight aces gave Federer the game. Nadal had a break point in Federer's next service game, but was unable to convert.
The only time Federer had a chance to break in the first set came in the 10th game when he raced out to a 0-40 lead. Nadal staved off the first, but a Federer forehand winner wrapped up the set.
Federer then capitalized on the momentum and won the first 13 points of the second set on the way to a 3-0 lead. Nadal never recovered.
"I was really pleased with my performance for the last one and a half sets," said Federer, who was successful on 81 percent of his first serves during the match. "I was really pleased with my serving performance today. It was key to beating Rafa tonight."
Next up for Federer will be Ferrer, who is trying to become the first player to win the Masters Cup in his debut since fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja in 1998.
Ferrer, the only player to finish round-robin play undefeated, continued that trend with his rout of Roddick.
Roddick had back trouble early and called for the trainer down 4-1 in the first set. He was never able to kick it into gear and drilled just four aces.
Ferrer, seeded sixth this week, will try for his fourth title of 2007 and the sixth of his career. However, he has never beaten Federer in seven previous tries.
Federer won a pair of meetings this year, both on clay, at the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo and Hamburg.
"David has been the best player of the tournament," Federer remarked about his opponent in the final. "He's been beating unbelievable players along the way."
Federer will be trying for his 53rd career title and eighth this year.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion will finish the year at No. 1 for a fourth straight year. He is the reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Aussie Open and Masters Cup titlist. He defeated American James Blake in last year's finale in Shanghai and is seeking his fourth Masters Cup title in five years.
An undefeated champion, which at this point could only be Ferrer, would collect over $1.5 million.

Nadal, Ferrer win Masters Cup openers

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal recovered from a shaky start to best Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the opening match at the Tennis Masters Cup on Sunday.
The French Open champion dropped the first set to Gasquet but steadied himself over the final two frames to win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, on the indoor hardcourt at Shanghai's state-of-the-art Qi Zhong Stadium. Nadal, the World No. 2, has now beaten Gasquet four consecutive times in his career.
Later, David Ferrer upset Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the second Gold Group match, making it a perfect day for Spain. The underrated Ferrer doused Djokovic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Swiss great Roger Federer, who headlines the Red Group, is the defending champion here and starts his bid for a fourth Masters Cup title in five years on Monday.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer is joined in a very tough Red Group by No. 4 Russian Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 American Andy Roddick and No. 7 Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.
The 2007 Masters Cup features round-robin action for the first six days, with the top-two players from each group advancing to the semifinals on Saturday, November 17. The lucrative finale will be staged on Sunday, November 18.
An undefeated champion in Shanghai would collect over $1.5 million.
The reigning Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open titlist Federer defeated American James Blake in last year's Masters Cup finale, giving him his third title in four years at this event. Federer is the only former champion in this year's exclusive eight-man field and 22-2 for his career at this tournament.
Federer beat Gonzalez in this year's Aussie Open final, topped Nadal in the Wimbledon title bout, bested Djokovic in the U.S. Open finale and lost to Nadal in the French Open championship match.

Ferrer to battle Gasquet for Tokyo title

Tokyo, Japan (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and third- seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet will battle for the title at the $832,000 Japan Open after both won semifinal matches Saturday.
The world No. 8 Ferrer, a U.S. Open semifinalist last month, topped 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic, the seventh seed, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Gasquet won in similar fashion over second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Ferrer goes after his third title this year, already winning titles in Auckland and Bastad. He'll try for his fifth career championship.
Gasquet, fresh off his title in Mumbai, has won five tournaments in his career.
Ferrer won the only other meeting with Gasquet, beating the Frenchman in straight sets in a tournament in Stuttgart in 2004.
The 2007 titlist will collect $145,000.

Ferrer, Berdych, Gasquet reach semis; Hewitt loses in Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, second- seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and third-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet posted quarterfinal wins, while former champion Lleyton Hewitt came up a loser Friday at the $832,000 Japan Open.
The world No. 8 Ferrer, a U.S. Open semifinalist last month, grounded his 10th-seeded countryman Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-4, while the former world No. 1 and 2001 Tokyo titlist Hewitt, seeded fourth this week, gave way to seventh- seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) at Ariake Colosseum.
Ferrer will meet the 6-foot-10 Karlovic in Saturday's semifinals here. During his victory over Hewitt, the massive-serving Karlovic became only the fourth player since 1991 to swat 1,000 aces in a season, as he drilled 25 bombs against the return-of-serve artist Hewitt.
The other semi will pit Berdych against the red-hot Gasquet, as Berdych outlasted eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-5, while Gasquet rattled off his eighth straight match victory by dousing Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1. Gasquet is fresh off his title in India last week.
The 2007 titlist here will collect $145,000.

Djokovic advances, Nadal upset at U.S. Open

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic survived his fourth-round match with Argentine Juan Monaco, while second- seeded Rafael Nadal fell to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Nadal, the reigning three-time French Open champ and two-time Wimbledon runner-up, won a first-set tiebreaker with Ferrer, seeded 15th, before dropping the next three and losing 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at Ashe Stadium on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Nadal, who was hobbled by injuries, has not advanced past the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open. Ferrer advances to take on Argentine slugger Juan Ignacio Chela.
Although Ferrer/Nadal's match lasted three hours and 28 minutes, Djokovic's 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Monaco topped that at just under four hours.
Djokovic reached the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon and captured Masters Series titles in Miami and Montreal this season. Up next for Djokovic is 17th-seeded Carlos Moya, who got past rising Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
The Spanish veteran moved on in 2 hours, 25 minutes with the help of five service breaks. The talented Gulbis, who turned 19 here last week, launched 13 aces, but also piled up 64 unforced errors on Day 9.
The 31-year-old Moya, the oldest player still standing here, will appear in his first U.S. Open quarterfinal in nine years. This also marks his second quarterfinal appearance of 2007, as the resurgent former world No. 1 reached the round of eight at Roland Garros, where he captured his lone major title back in 1998.
Chela landed in his first-ever U.S. Open quarterfinal by outlasting capable Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4 in the round of 16.
Chela advanced in 3 hours, 41 minutes by converting on his second match point on another beautiful day in New York. The sloppy match featured 15 service breaks, including eight by the Swiss, and 117 unforced errors, including 68 by the loser. Wawrinka piled up 36 more winners than Chela (65-29), but also misfired for 19 more errors.
The 20th-seeded Chela, who turned 28 here last week, has reached only one other Grand Slam quarterfinal, and that came at Roland Garros three years ago.
On Wednesday, American Andy Roddick will square off against world No. 1 Roger Federer. Federer is the reigning three-time U.S. Open champ and also holds the Wimbledon and Aussie Open titles. The 11-time major titlist Federer is 13-1 lifetime against Roddick, with Roddick's lone victory coming four years ago. Federer beat the 2003 titlist Roddick in last year's finale here.

Nadal, Ferrer cruise in Mercedes Cup openers

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Spaniards Rafael Nadal and defending champion David Ferrer were among the first-round winners Tuesday at the Mercedes Cup.
The top-seeded Nadal rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Germany's Alexander Waske, while the fourth-seeded Ferrer breezed past Slovakian qualifier Lukas Lacko, 6-2, 6-2.
It was total domination for Nadal, who needed just 73 minutes to advance. The Spaniard, who won this title in 2005, saved both break points he faced and went on to improve to 27-1 on clay this year. He has won 89 of his last 90 matches on the slow surface.
Ferrer, meanwhile, won in just 51 minutes. He is coming off a victory last week at the clay tournament in Bastad.
Third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also eased into the second round with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, while Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero and Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco were other seeded winners.
The sixth-seeded Ferrero trounced Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, 6-1, 6-2, while the seventh-seeded Chela earned a 6-3, 6-3 win over Max Mirnyi of Belarus. The eighth-seeded Monaco had little trouble in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic.
Fifth-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina was forced to retire in the third set of his match against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka. A right thigh injury forced Canas to stop after Wawrinka had won the first game of the decisive set.
Stefan Koubek of Austria, Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Diego Hartfield of Argentina were also winners Tuesday.
Kohlschreiber's win earned him a second-round matchup with Nadal.

Ferrer advances, Moya ousted at Swedish Open

Bastad, Sweden (Sports Network) - Second-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and fellow countryman Nicolas Almagro advanced to the Swedish Open final with semifinal wins on Saturday.
Ferrer needed just over an hour to cruise past fifth-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri, 6-2, 6-1, while Almagro defeated fourth-seeded countryman Carlos Moya, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, on the clay court.
After splitting the first two sets, Almagro broke Moya in the second game of the third set and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Moya, the 2002 champion at this event, missed out on a break point in the seventh game that would have drawn him within 4-3, but Almagro held and broke Moya for the win.
Both players have won a title this year. Ferrer, though, owns three career titles compared to just two for Almagro.
Sunday will mark the third meeting between these two players. Ferrer, the 15th-ranked player in the world, won both, which came on hard courts.

Almagro is the 37th ranked player in the world.