|
 Even the super-fit Spaniard, whose brick-wall playing style should
suit the conditions, was troubled by the hot weather as he prowled
the baseline for 132 minutes in temperatures higher than 42 degrees
Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) on Rod Laver Arena.
"I won in three sets, so it's good," said the 31-year-old, a
semi-finalist at Melbourne Park for two of the last three years.
"I know today maybe was the last day with this heat, with these
conditions, and it's good for your body, because is very difficult
to play with these conditions.
"Maybe it was my best match this week."
Ferrer was not able to entirely keep his cool for the whole match
and took his frustrations out on his racket after losing his only
service game of the match to give Chardy a 5-3 lead in the second
set.
After recovering to stave off two set points and move 2-0 ahead
following a tiebreaker, Ferrer rattled through the third set in
convincing fashion.
"I was angry in this moment, and I was a little bit nervous," he
said of the racket-smashing.
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"The key was sure in the second set. In the important moments
I got lucky and not him, no? It was a miracle I won the second
set." Ranked third in the world after Andy Murray missed the
back end of last season, Ferrer is probably the least fancied third
seed at Melbourne Park since Nikolay Davydenko in 2007 and a 66-1
outsider with the bookmakers.
Ferrer's relatively easy draw, though, means he could easily go deep
into the second week at Melbourne Park despite his next opponent
Florian Mayer defeating the Spaniard at last year's Shanghai
Masters.
One thing for certain is that if and when he loses, Ferrer will not
go down without a fight.
"I am a fitness player. I need to run every point," he said. "I am a
fighter, no? I try to fight every point."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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