Ferrer sends message with third-round victory
David Ferrer sent a message to the top four that he could be a real threat at the French Open with a third-round demolition of Mikhail Youzhny today.
The sixth seed is one of the best in the world on clay, but he still flies very much under the radar in relation to the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Ferrer, who won 6-0 6-2 6-2 today, is seeded to meet Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, and he has won all three of his meetings on clay with the world number four.
That is a few days away, but the Scot's camp will not have been encouraged by the ease with which Ferrer disposed of Youzhny, the 27th seed and a talented player.
It was not until the ninth game that the Russian finally got on the board, and he celebrated by carving the word 'sorry' in the clay with his foot.
Things did not improve much for Youzhny from there, with Ferrer needing only an hour and 41 minutes to clinch victory and a fourth-round meeting with either Marcel Granollers or Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Ferrer is delighted with his form but is keeping thoughts of a potential title challenge firmly to the back of his mind.
The Spaniard said: "I think I managed to keep my focus throughout the match. It was very important to start well, and I had to start attacking and play very high balls. All the points were good for me. I'm very satisfied.
"I will try to focus only on the next match against Marcel Granollers or Paul-Henri Mathieu. And I don't want to think about if I will win Roland Garros. I will have to play semi-final, quarter-final. For me, the most important is the next match."
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