ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer recovered from a slow start to beat No. 16 seed and former two-time champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4 for a place in the ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo final on Saturday.
Federer fought back from a 3-1 first set deficit by winning seven games in a row on a sun-drenched day at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.
The Swiss sealed his seventh career win in ten meetings over Ferrero in one hour and 25 minutes. It was the pair’s second meeting on clay (also 2003 ATP Masters Series Rome).
Ferrero, who reached the Costa do Sauipe final (l. to Canas) in February, falls to 16-9 this year.
The 27-year-old Spaniard captured the 2002 and 2003 Monte-Carlo titles, over Carlos Moya and Guillermo Coria respectively. His last of 11 ATP titles came at ATP Masters Series Madrid in 2003, when he beat Nicolas Massu.
Federer will attempt to win his third title of the year, in his fifth tournament, on Sunday. The 25-year-old has already won the Australian Open (d. Gonzalez) and the Dubai crown (d. Youzhny) in the first three months of 2007.
He will next meet two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-0, 7-5. Report
Nadal beat Federer in last year's final, which was one of six clashes between the pair in 2006.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Federer: "I think I'm playing good in defense and offense. I'm returning pretty good. Usually for me for some reason that's the hardest part on clay. Should be the easiest because the surface is the slowest, but I've always had issues early on in the clay court season where I just feel that my returns weren't good enough. But I feel good and I feel like I have options to play on clay. My serve is coming along nicely, too. So, yeah, I'm happy the way I'm playing.
Ferrero: "I'm in a good way to play the clay court season. I play really good tennis I think. Not only in this match, I think I play good tennis two days ago against [Igor] Andreev. He's a very good tennis player on clay. And also [Richard] Gasquet I had a good comeback. So I had different feelings during the whole week, and I think it's very important to me to play this week like I did because it's give me a lot of confidence to stay in good shape.
MONTE CARLO RE-CAP
Day 7: Nadal Sets Up Dream Final
Day 6: Berdych Completes Remarkable Comeback
Day 6: Federer Records 500th Career Win
Day 5: Federer, Nadal Fire into Quarterfinals
Day 4: Nadal Sends Warning to Rivals
Day 4: Djokovic Keeps Alive Winning Streak
Day 3: Federer, Gasquet Claim Tough Opening Wins
Day 2: Mirnyi Charges to Victory over Baghdatis
Day 1: Safin Sinks Nieminen in First Round
