FERRER WINS UNICEF OPEN

David Ferrer’s preparation for Wimbledon went extremely well, as he won at the UNICEF Open in the Netherlands earlier this month. The semifinal against Benoit Paire was the Spaniard’s hardest challenge so far this season on grass and he was forced into a third set for the only time, though he closed this out easily to win 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-1. Ferrer entered this tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch as number one seed and has set about showing people exactly why, cruising into the semifinals and beating Philipp Petzschner 6-3 6-4 in the finals to claim his second tournament win on grass.

The world number 6 has looked fantastic this season, and has a decent chance of beating anyone he faces outside the top three at Wimbledon – something he proved with his defeat of Murray in the French Open quarterfinal. His route to the semifinal in Holland was almost embarrassingly easy in the end, starting with Pierre-Ludovic Duclos in the first round, who he beat 6-4 6-4. After this, Ferrer really got going, finishing off Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-1 in an hour and then taking just 42 minutes to despatch his quarterfinal opponent Igor Sijsling 6-0 6-1. Of course, the grass court specialist and world number 60 Benoit Paire then took a set off him in the semifinal, but this looks as though it may well be the only significant resistance he faces in this tournament.

The final was played against qualifier Philipp Petzschner of Germany who sits in 101^st position in the singles rankings and is primarily a doubles specialist. Petzschner beat the experienced Frenchman Xavier Malisse 7-5 7-5 in his semi, and reached only his third ATP final but couldn’t add to his only singles title which came in Vienna in 2008. Ferrer was simply too good for him, and was clearly pleased with the victory. “I’m very, very happy. I’ve won two times here,” said Ferrer. “This is special for me because grass is maybe my worst surface. On a clay court or hard court, my game is more adapted.”