That was a brutal match physically. All credit to Ferrero, well deserved for his persistence.
I'm disappointed Gael couldn't find the tennis he was playing early on in the first set again at any point in the match. He looked superb and the set could have been in the bag before JCF had the chance to get himself settled down but he didn't convert his BPs there and it eventually bit him in the arse in the TB where he was poor.
After that it was a real grind. Even still I didn't believe he was in huge danger until I saw the difference in condition and body language when the 5th set rolled around. Ferrero's fitness is stunning for a guy at this point in his career and he looked in much better shape, it was like night and day and that surprised me a bit. On the bright side Gael still has the best handshake in the game.
Ah well, the US open is just a warm up for the real tournaments like Bangkok anyway
