Janowicz Reaches Paris Final, Will Face Ferrer

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Janowicz Reaches Paris Final, Will Face Ferrer

By Chris Oddo

(November 3, 2012)--The dream continues for Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz. The 21-year-old sensation carved up his fifth consecutive top 20 opponent in Saturday's semifinal, dropping local favorite Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and twenty-nine minutes.

"How is this possible," Jankowicz later would say. "I do not know how I did it."

The victory means that Janowicz has become the first player to reach a Masters 1000 final on his debut at this level since Harel Levy reached the final in Toronto in 2000.

Janowicz may be green in terms of experience, but he looked every bit the veteran against Simon on Saturday. Playing in his first tour semifinal of any kind, Janowicz started strong, cracking 20 winners to Simon's 6 in the first set, and broke through in the fifth game when he ripped a winner off a Simon first serves that the Frenchman hardly had time to see, let alone track down.

A few games later, Janowicz would crack two consecutive inside-out forehand winners to claim the set.

"He showed this week that when he is confident he can beat great players and even better than that with his victory over Andy Murray," said Simon afterwards.

But when it comes to Janowicz impressive display of power and precision, Simon was reluctant to give too much credit, saying "I want to see him out in the wind, hitting 160 KM per hour on the line."

Janowicz, who is surprisingly athletic for a big man, employed a stunning array of drop shots to complement his power game on Saturday. It was enough to keep Simon off balance for most of the match.

Inspite of impressive touch, deception and shot selection, the key to the match was Janowicz's serve and his poise. He made 69 percent of his first serves and did not face a break point, while increasing his tournament-leading total to 62 aces.

And when he needed something special--and timely--on return, Janowicz had that too.

He carved a perfect cross-court drop shot to break Simon for a 6-5 lead in the second set, then held serve calmly, finishing another earth-shattering victory with a featherweight dropper that an onrushing Simon couldn't lift over the net.

"I just told myself not to change my game and that's what I did with the drop shot," Janowicz said.

It was a fitting finish to another brilliant performance from the Pole, one that brought him to his knees, near tears, before jumping up to join Simon in a hearty handshake at the net.

Janowicz will continue his wild ride in Paris on Sunday when he faces David Ferrer in the final.

Ferrer fought off ten break points to survive a wildly entertaining first set against Michael Llodra in the second semifinal on Saturday. If not for the gritty resiliency of the Spaniard, this surely would have been the crafty Llodra's day. But Ferrer, as he so often does, broke the serve and the will of his opponent to cruise to a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

With the win, the surging Spaniard takes over the ATP lead in wins with 71.

Llodra, who had reeled off 48 consecutive service holds in Paris, was broken in back-to-back games by Ferrer. The first allowed Ferrer to seal the first set, and the second put Ferrer in a commanding position in the second set.

For good measure, Ferrer would add another break, clinching the affair in one hour and fifty minutes.

Ferrer, considered by many as the best ATP player to have never won a Masters 1000 title, will get a chance to claim his first such title on Sunday when he faces Janowicz. At 71-14 on the season, Ferrer will bid for his seventh title.

The Spaniard has gone 6-1 in finals, with his most recent title coming last week in Valencia.

(Photo Credit: AP)