Ferrer back in Paris Masters semifinals; to play Nadal

PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Defending champion David Ferrer rallied for a win Friday, setting up a semifinal match with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Paris Masters.

Ferrer, seeded third, got by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in just more than 2 hours. He lost only eight points on serve in the third set and cashed in the only break point he had in the set.

Nadal improved to 71-5 on the year with a 6-4, 6-1 win over ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet. Nadal faced only one break point -- losing it -- and won 71percent of the points on serve. He dropped just 11 points in eight games serving while finishing off five breaks in nine receiving games.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who must win in Paris to have a chance to pass Nadal for the yearend No. 1 ranking, saved all six break points he faced and took nearly half of the points when receiving serve in beating seventh-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4.

Djokovic will face fifth-seeded Roger Federer in Saturday's first semifinal. Federer got by No. 4-seed Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 Friday. Federer lost his serve once each in the second and third sets but dropped just 16 points in 14 games serving. He finished with four breaks of his own, including three in the final set.

Federer owns a 16-13 career record against Djokovic. The last meeting came in the 2012 World Tour Finals title match, with Djokovic winning 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

Nadal is matched against Ferrer for the fifth time this year and Nadal has won all four of the previous meetings. In fact, Nadal owns a personal nine-match winning streak against Ferrer and is 20-4 all-time versus his Spanish countryman.