Ferrer beats Tipsarevic in epic to reach Open semis

Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer matched his best Grand Slam showing by advancing to the US Open semi-finals on Thursday, downing Serb eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). Ferrer will play on Saturday for a berth in the final against the winner of a later quarter-final between defending champion Novak Djokovic, the Serbian second seed, and Argentine seventh seed Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 winner. The Spaniard is 5-2 all-time against Del Potro and 5-8 in his career against Djokovic. British third seed Andy Murray and Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych will meet in the other semi-final. This will be the first time since the 2004 French Open that the semi-finals at a Grand Slam will not feature either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, a run of 33 Slams in a row. In a marathon battle that lasted four hours and 31 minutes, Ferrer rallied from 4-1 down in the final set to force a tie-breaker, then won five of the final six points of the match, the last when Tipsarevic netted a backhand. "I'm really happy," Ferrer said. "It was a very emotional match. It was a really tough match. Janko, he's an amazing player and he really fought a lot. He deserved to win today too." Ferrer improved to 17-9 in career five-set matches while Tipsarevic fell to 15-8. "It was a lottery in the fifth set," Ferrer said. "I had a break down but I was fighting also and I won. I had to fight a lot and be focused every point."