U.S. Open: Ferrer d. Tipsarevic

NEW YORK—If you or your kid has ever had or played that Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots game, you know that no matter how many jaw-busting knockouts one or the other robot scores, they are destined to go on fighting. That ought to give you have a pretty good idea of what the epic David Ferrer vs. Janko Tipsarevic U.S. Open quarterfinal match was all about.

Neither No. 4 seed Ferrer nor No. 8 Tipsarevic is a top-of-the-bill player, yet for four-and-a-half hours they kept a loaded Arthur Ashe Stadium not only occupied but deeply interested and, ultimately, enthralled. Two old codgers who sat behind me, for example, sta

the end of the fourth set they were leaping to their feet and hollering, “Go get ‘em, JT!”

Tipsarevic and Ferrer made thousands of friends today, and the appreciation was palpable when the entire crowd rose to its feet to greet the bloodied, worn, banged-up, taped-up, and all but used-up combatants with a prolonged standing ovation as they walked out on the court to play a fitting fifth-set tiebreaker. Ferrer won it, and the match, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and by the time the climax was underway, the first and second sets seemed lost in the fog of time.

A serious student of the game might have seen this coming. While Ferrer is your archetypal grinder, Tipsarevic is a lightning quick, aggressive baseliner who’s become increasingly bold and willing to force the action, inspired perhaps by the success of his friend and countryman Novak Djokovic. These two hadn’t met since 2008, when Tisparevic knocked Ferrer out of the Olympic Games in Beijing to improve his head-to-head record to 1-2.

In this one, both men cracked the ball with verve from the start. Had Tipsarevic lost that second-set tiebreaker, the match might have been become a routine one. But he won it by taking chances, and relying on the qualities where he has an edge on Ferrer. Tipsarevic is more explosive, he’s stronger, and he has more versatile game (among other things, he isn’t afraid to attack the net).

So, where exactly does that leave the other guy—the one who actually won the match? What is he, chopped liver?

No, but Ferrer has set himself up as a litmus test for anyone who would want to try his hand against the very top players. He’s the keeper at the gate; you beat him and you’ve earned the right to challenge a Djokovic, or a Roger Federer. Guys whom Ferrer himself won’t—or can’t—mess with.

Ferrer has carved out that position because he can hit forehands and backhands and run all day, a job that’s easier to do (if extra exhausting) when you rule out the other options you might pursue. It’s an odd niche, in some ways, and speaks of an extreme conservatism. He’s like the guy who’s done well selling sink stoppers, but doesn’t dare take a chance selling faucets and other related implements. He sticks with what he knows.

In the decisive fifth set, Tipsarevic sloughed off two break points to hold the first game, then broke Ferrer in the next game. He maintained that lead until dogged Ferrer broke him in the seventh game to get back on serve. Ferrer had an excellent chance to break in the ninth game, at 4-all, when he leaped out to a 15-40 lead on Tipsarevic’s serve with a forehand winner.

As that last point ended, Tipsarevic pulled up short, clutching his groin muscle. The injury was painful enough for him to call a medical time out (both men had already taken injury time-outs to have their blistered feet attended to). But after the trainer wrapped his thigh, Tipsarevic looked—and played—as if he were good as new. He dismissed those virtual match points with a smash and a service winner, then closed out the game with another service winner and an ace.

In the inevitable tiebreaker, the men held until the eighth point, when Tipsarevic blinked. He went down a mini-break thanks to his failure to dig out a weak forehand approach by Ferrer. And that was all Ferrer needed. Although Tipsarevic followed on with a 125 M.P.H. ace, he then made a pair of errors, a forehand and backhand respectively, to end the four-hour and 31-minute bitter battle.

“It was a lottery, in the fifth set,” Ferrer said afterward.

Indeed, but this was a lottery that everyone in Ashe won.

For more Racquet Reactions from the 2012 U.S. Open, click here.