Out of Shanghai

Andy’s 2007 Tennis Masters Cup campaign came to an end at the hands of David Ferrer in Shanghai on Saturday. The Spaniard broke Andy’s serve four times to win 6-1, 6-3 and book his place in Sunday’s final.

Ferrer is yet to lose a match all week, the only man left in the tournament with a perfect record, and produced another awesome display against Andy at the Qi Zhong Stadium in front of jubilant travelling Spanish fans.

Andy held his first service game of the match, but unfortunately that was to be his only hold of the set. Struggling with a lower back problem, which required treatment from the trainer, Andy lost his serve three times, only managing to win 40% of the points when he delivered on his first serve and falling victim to excellent returning from Ferrer.

Andy struggled to reproduce his form from earlier in the week and only managed five winners to 11 unforced errors as Ferrer dictated the majority of the play.

In true champion fashion, Andy gritted his teeth in the second set, found a rhythm on his serve and was able to get a couple of games on the board for a 2-3 scoreline.

However, with Andy serving at 2-3, Ferrer produced yet more inspired tennis, including an accurate crosscourt forehand passing shot, which produced three more break points for the Spaniard. Andy was able to save the first two with brave attacking play and an ace, but falterd on the third as Ferrer whipped a backhand pass past him at the net to lead 4-2.

Andy continued to fight though and very nearly managed to claw his way back into contention as he held three break points on Ferrer’s following service game. Ferrer rose to the challenge though and saved all three, playing solid tennis from the back to force the errors out of Andy, and producing some clutch serving to go on and hold the game after three deuces.

A comfortable service game from Andy forced Ferrer to serve out the match, and he did so on his third match point after more battling from Andy, a big serve finally sealing his place in the final where he faces either compatriot Rafael Nadal or World No. 1 Roger Federer.

Having only played one tournament match since the US Open coming into the week, Andy can be proud of his achievements in Shanghai, reaching his third Tennis Masters Cup semifinal thanks to impressive tennis after such a lengthy break. He can now focus fully on the USA’s Davis Cup final against Russia, to be played in Portland in two weeks time.

Well done, Andy!