David Ferrer came from a set down to beat Tomas Berdych 4-6 7-5 6-3 at the Paris Masters and book an all-Spanish semi-final meeting with Rafael Nadal.
The defending champion suffered an early blow in his bid to become the first man to retain this title, as a string of unforced errors gifted Berdych a break in the opening game of the match.
The remainder of the first set went with serve, with the Czech dropping one or fewer points in four of his five holds, firing down some unstoppable aces in the process of taking a lead in the contest.
Ferrer started the second set in much quicker fashion than he did the first and stormed 3-0 in front, but Berdych broke to love in the seventh game to put the scores back on serve.
Things stayed that way until the final game of the set when world number three Ferrer got the benefit of a hawkeye call, which had adjudged Berdych's slice to have landed just wide, to level the encounter.
It continued to be fine margins which separated the pair in the decider, but it was the Spaniard, who won 94 points to Berdych's 87 throughout the contest, who again claimed the important points.
He saved a break point of his own, before snatching a game from Berdych's serve at the next opportunity, which helped him open up a three-game lead that he went on to maintain as he closed out the match.
Joe Fish
