Tennis: Ferrero Springs Nadal Shock

Viggö

Second seed Rafael Nadal was sent packing in the quarter finals of the Cincinnati Masters by compatriot Juan-Carlos Ferrero who recorded a 7-6 7-6 victory.

Ferrero had failed to beat Nadal in any of their previous four meetings, indeed, he had failed to register a single set in that sequence.

However, he found his best form to edge out his opponent for a gruelling straight sets victory that lasted two hours and twenty minutes.

Nadal appeared to have assumed control of the match when he broke in the first set to take an early 3-1 lead.

Ferrero refused to be bowed, though, and restored parity when he broke to level at 4-4, the next four games then went on serve as a tie-break ensued.

Producing arguably his best form of the set, the Valencian stepped up a gear to take the breaker 7-2 and put himself in charge.

Ferrero was required to save break points at 4-4 in the second, but having done so the players were forced off court for over half an hour due to rain.

On the resumption it was Ferrero who looked the sharper as the match went into a second tie-break. The 26-year-old held his nerve and took it 7-3 to condemn Nadal to an unexpected defeat.

The youngster's loss, in addition to that of Roger Federer earlier in the week, means that for the first time since the 2005 Australian Open neither of the pair have reached the final of an event in which they have both played.

[Credit: SkySports]