Ferrer, Djokovic advance to U.S. Open semifinals

Last Updated: Thursday, September 6, 2007 | 4:18 PM ET

CBC Sports

David Ferrer of Spain reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open for the first time on Thursday.

Ferrer, seeded 15th, defeated No. 20 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in their quarter-final match at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

David Ferrer hits a backhand return in Thursday's 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 triumph.
(Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

"I'm playing really very well on hard courts and it's unbelievable," Ferrer said. "If you had told me before that I would get to a semifinal on hard courts, I would not have believed you.

"I believe in clay, maybe, but not in hard court. This tournament is a dream."

Ferrer's opponent in Saturday's semifinals will be third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who bounced 17th-ranked Carlos Moya 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-1.  

Djokovic advanced to his third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, but not before prompting a few chuckles by bouncing the ball 28 times on first service in the tiebreaker — he hit a fault — and 13 times on second service before winning the point.

"Just a matter of concentration," he said. "I'm trying to really focus and not irritate anybody.

"Sorry, if I'm a bit annoying. The thing is, I want to stay longer on this court, so that is why I'm bouncing more and more."

Ferrer, who upset second-ranked Rafael Nadal in four sets in the fourth round, is the fourth Spaniard to advance to the final four at the Open.

The others were Manuel Orantes (1975), Moya (1998) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).

"Maybe the last three matches is my best tennis," Ferrer said. "For me, it's unbelievable."

Roger Federer of Switzerland, the top seed and three-time defending champion, faces No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko of Ukraine in the other semifinal.

Also Thursday, Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus defeated Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States and Leander Paes of India 6-4, 7-6 (6) to win the mixed doubles championship.