Confident Ferrer Advances To Cincinnati QFs

David Ferrer is regaining his appetite for top-level tennis and the relentless drive that saw him rise to a career-high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August 2013. Close to a return to the Top 30, the veteran Spaniard beat his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday for a place in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals – his first at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level since the Rolex Paris Masters in November 2015.

The 2015 Cincinnati finalist, who has gone 11-2 since a Wimbledon third-round exit, will next face third-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem or Adrian Mannarino of France on Friday.

Ferrer, who had lost five of his previous seven matches against fellow Spaniards, and No. 11 seed Carreno Busta both struggled for consistency in the early exchanges. But service breaks for Ferrer in the fifth game of the first set and at 1-1 in the second set proved to be enough for his 21st match win of a protracted season, which sparked into life with his 27th ATP World Tour title at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Dolgopolov) last month. Ferrer, playing closer to the baseline and quick to move up the court, struck 14 winners, while a forehand in the net from Carreno Busta – his 26th error – ended the 77-minute encounter.

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays