Valencia: Defending champion David Ferrer beat fifth-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Valencia Open.
The top-seeded Ferrer used his speed and ground game to overcome Janowicz's powerful serve with key breaks to finish the first set and then start the third.
Also, Mikhail Youzhny outlasted Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4 in 2 hours, 21 minutes. Youzhny moved on to a semifinal against fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who ousted Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-3.
Janowicz hit 10 aces with speeds reaching 238 kph (148 mph) on the indoor hard court. But his serve also betrayed him. Two of his four double-faults helped cost him two service games, and on match point he twice served into the net.
Ferrer, ranked No. 3, kept scrambling to keep the ball in play until he wore Janowicz down, with one long rally even sending Janowicz crashing into a flower stand. Ferrer also defeated Janowicz in their only previous meeting in the final of the Paris Masters last year when he claimed his first Masters title.
"I knew that today was going to be a different match," Ferrer said. "It was a tough one. He served very well and it was difficult to counter that. It was too bad to drop the second set, but I quickly forgot about it." Ferrer will face the winner of the other quarterfinal between fellow former champion Nicolas Almagro and Fabio Fognini.
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