Australian Open 2013 - Ferrer fightback sinks Almagro

Ferrer displayed his usual battling qualities after a slow start

Australian Open 2013 Day 9 - Ferrer fightback sinks Almagro

Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and Li Na all moved through to the semi-finals on day 9 in Melbourne while the Williams sisters were edged out by Errani and Vinci in the Women's doubles quarter finals.

But the most eventful encounter came in the all Spanish quarter final between 4th seed David Ferrer and 10th seed Nicolas Almagro.  

Almagro had two major obstacles to fight against - he had never reached a major semi-final in 34 Grand Slam appearances and he had never beaten his older and higher ranked Davis Cup teammate in 12 previous meetings.

Both of these pressures became especially evident as the 27 year-old moved within sight of the finish line.

Almagro opened a commanding 6-4, 6-4, 5-3 lead with a combination of his own excellent play - top notch serving and many lethal backhands - and a sub-par performance from Ferrer. 



Almagro felt the pressure at the vital moments

However serving for the match at 5-4 the 10th seed became understandably tight and could not reach match point. 

He came within two points of victory before Ferrer broke back.  Quickly Ferrer reeled off two quick games to take the third set.

Suddenly Ferrer had all the momentum but Almagro managed to hang with him as breaks were shared early in the fourth.

Again Almagro broke to lead 5-4 and served for the match.  Again he came within two points of the win only to see Ferrer break back.

This time Almagro - now also feeling the nervous effects of cramp - broke again and served for the match a third time at 6-5.  Again at the crucial moment Ferrer dug in, Almagro tightened up and the set went to a tie-break.   

Ferrer took the breaker 7-4 and was now a clear favourite to the decider which he duly did to seal a hard fought 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-2 win after 3 hours and 44 minutes.

World No.5 Ferrer moves through to his fifth Grand Slam semi-final to take on defending champion Djokovic.  The 30 year-old having showed yet again that he fights for every point and never gives up in any situation.

Almagro heads back to the drawing board after defeat in his fourth Grand Slam quarter final - the previous losses all coming at the hands of Nadal in Paris. 

He has shown that he has the game to defeat Ferrer - he held match points in their encounter at Madrid last year - but he needs more belief in himself at the big moments.

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