Although Nadal managed to break back once to close the gap to 5-3, Ferrer held on to secure his second win in the Gold Group – following his 6-4 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Ferrer, who hit 23 winners against Nadal’s 10, can secure top spot in the group with victory against number eight Richard Gasquet on Thursday.

Nadal needs a win in his final group game against the winless Djokovic to ensure his progress to the last four.

Third-ranked Djokovic is out of contention for a place in the last four, after suffering his second consecutive straight-sets defeat – going down 6-4 6-2 to Gasquet.

Beaten 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Nadal in his opening match, Gasquet kept his semi-final hopes alive with a dominating performance against the Serbian – who contributed to his own downfall with 27 unforced errors.

“Today I had nothing to lose against Novak, because he’s number three in the world,” said Gasquet.

“I just had to enjoy the moment to play in the Masters Cup and just to play my game. I played a lot of amazing shots with my backhand.”

Djokovic had beaten the Frenchman in both their previous meetings, including the final at Estoril earlier this year – but he had no answer on this occasion to Gasquet, who broke his service three times in the final set.

“I didn’t find any solutions,” said the 20-year-old from Belgrade.

“He was playing well – he was very patient.”