by Joey Davies
@theonejoeydRafael Nadal's inactivity since his shock second round beating at the hands of Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon has enabled David Ferrer, the second ranked Spaniard, to move above him into number four in the world.
Ferrer is like a 'Duracell bunny'- he runs, grinds and fights for every ball and has maximised every ounce of his ability, of which in terms of overall tennis weaponry, is quite limited. His forehand and backhand are quite limited and only his return of serve could be classed as being comparable to any of the real top four (if you consider Nadal as part of that quadruple)
Unfortunately, these limitations were exposed in an ominously vicious manner in the first Australian Open semi final by Novak Djokovic in a brutal 6-2 6-2 6-1 scoreline. Ferrer had come through a very straightforward draw due to his seeding and he made use of it.
But this is what I'm getting at- there are guys ranked below him such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych, all guys with huge powerful groundstrokes- weaponry that can trouble a Djokovic, Murray or a Federer. Ferrer can't, those guys only overpower him.
Ferrer deserves his number four ranking for the points he has accumulated- but for the sake of having two competitive semi finals at grand slam tournaments, I hope someone with more firepower can oust him from that position, because while he is there, one of Novak or Roger will be punching the air in delight at the draw ceremonies while the other mulls over seeing Murray's name in their section instead, creating an imbalance.
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