Madrid: Spain's David Ferrer kicked off the new season with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 victory Thursday over Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, a hard-court exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.
Wawrinka grabbed a service break early on and then took a 5-3 lead, but the world No. 3 battled back to take the next four games and the first set 7-5.
Ferrer then stepped up his aggressiveness in the second set to race out to a 5-0 lead. Wawrinka managed to avoid the "bagel" but the Spaniard wrapped up the victory after an hour of play.
Next up for Ferrer in Friday's semifinals of this Australian Open tune-up will be countryman and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
