David Ferrer aims to put an injury hit summer behind him as he takes on Igor Andreev at the US Open today.
Who doesn't like to see the gutsy Ferrer in action ? The Spaniard enjoyed a fantastic start to the season, reaching the Australian Open semi-finals and he would have been confident of continuing his form this summer until he sustained a hairline wrist fracture during a fall in training last month.
It put him out for several weeks and although he returned in Cincinnati, he looked well short of his best, going out in the third round to Gilles Simon.
The good news for Ferrer is that Andreev, a former top 20 player and Russian Davis Cup competitor, is past his peak and he himself lost in qualifying for Cincinnati. Andreev enjoyed a boost in Winston-Salem last week, defeating teenager Bernard Tomic and Jurgen Melzer but it seems unlikely he will pull past the pugnacious Ferrer over five sets.
They are actually locked at 4-4 on the head-to-head but all of the Russian's wins came between 2004 and 2007, his best years while Ferrer has won the last three in a row.
Prediction: Ferrer in four.
