JOIN USNadal battles past Ferrer
Rafael Nadal battled to his third successive win at the ATP Tour Finals, but his marathon 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 victory over David Ferrer might prove a significant blow to his chances of defeating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Despite having already booked his place in the last four, Nadal refused to conserve his energy in a meaningless match against his fellow Spaniard that came just 24 hours before his clash with world number one Djokovic.
Djokovic posted a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych on Thursday to set up a last-four clash with Nadal.
The sight of Nadal pushing himself to the limits against Ferrer will have made for enjoyable viewing for Djokovic, who had promised to watch the match to get a glimpse of his semifinal opponent's form.
It will take a remarkably quick recovery from Nadal if he is to end Djokovic's bid for a record fourth successive title at the prestigious season-ending event.
Nadal certainly has plenty of motivation to drag one last effort from his aching limbs as he attempts to end the worst year of his career on a high.
As quickly as he seized the initiative, Nadal let it slip from his grasp as Ferrer broke twice to win four games in a row.
Nadal still had a chance to serve for the set after breaking for a 6-5 lead, but he couldn't finish the job and Ferrer eventually won it in a tie-break.
Nadal's response to dropping a set for the first time in this year's tournament was to breeze through the second to level the match.
Unable to convert five break points in a 14-minute marathon first game of the final set, Nadal found himself dragged into another prolonged struggle with the tenacious Ferrer.
But there was still no sign of Nadal saving his body for the Djokovic match and his perseverance was rewarded when he broke at 4-4 to set up a hard fought victory.
Seizing initiative
Needing to take just one set to advance, the 10-time Grand Slam champion responded to only his sixth defeat of the season by quickly seizing the initiative against Berdych.
He fired off a string of winners and took seven of the first eight points to break in the second game of the first set.
Berdych broke straight back, but Djokovic got a lucky break that helped him seal the set when the former Wimbledon runner-up failed to challenge on a call that would have gone in his favour.
Bolstered by that good fortune, Djokovic broke just moments later to secure the first set.