The first day of the 8th Mubadala World Tennis Championship saw David Ferrer destroy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as Milos Raonic edged his way past Kevin Anderson.
Going into the match Ferrer had a 3-1 head-to-head lead over his French opponent, however, their last encounter on the ATP Tour was at the 2013 French Open. 33-year-old Ferrer was able to continue his dominance with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1, win against Tsonga after just 54 minutes at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre. The win is a big boost for Ferrer as he embarks on the new season. Despite his age, Ferrer has recently dismissed any speculation regarding his retirement plans.
“Now I am No7 in the world so when you’re playing with the best tennis in the world or I am top-10 I don’t want to retire. I enjoy playing tennis and I’m enjoying both my professional and personal lives so I am not thinking about retirement,” Ferrer said.
In the semi-final Ferrer will play fellow countryman Rafael Nadal, a player who he has beaten only six times out of their 30 encounters.
In the other semi-final Canadian world No.14 Milos Raonic defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4, in the battle of the big servers. Raonic recently confirmed that he will not be replacing his former coach, Ivan Ljubičić, in 2016. In both sets the South African faltered in his usually reliable service game to enable Raonic to cruise to the victory.
Raonic’s reward will be a last four clash against top seed and nemesis Stan Wawrinka. Raonic has played the Swiss player four times on the tour, losing in all of them. This last clash was at the Rotterdam Open in February where Wawrinka took the win 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7).
Both Tsonga and Anderson will have a chance to restore some dignity for themselves on New Year’s Day. They will play each other in the play-off match to decide who will finish fifth in the tournament.
