Triumphant Ferrer lurking dangerously, as always

PARIS (Reuters) - Ever-reliable Spaniard David Ferrer slipped almost unnoticed into the French Open quarter-finals with a dismissive 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Croatia's Marin Cilic on Monday. The 33-year-old former runner-up, one of the best performers of his generation on clay, is yet to get his feet on the Philippe Chatrier showcourt this year and has been nothing more than a sub-plot in the tournament so far. Yet it would be folly to ignore him much longer and third seed Andy Murray, who must take on Ferrer next, will need no reminding of the task he faces, having lost all four of their previous claycourt duels. Ferrer was at his relentless best as he suffocated the more powerful Cilic to reach the last eight for the sixth time in a career spent mostly in the shadows of claycourt king Rafa Nadal, the player who beat him in the 2013 final. The Spaniard made only 14 unforced errors and Cilic simply did not have the patience to grind it out, dropping serve five times and failing to take any of the rare opportunities that came his way. All in all it was a good day's work for Ferrer whose post-match comments were as businesslike as his tennis. "It was a complete match. I think it was my best match these two weeks," said Ferrer who was on Court One, the third biggest arena at Roland Garros known as the Bullring. Asked if he was disappointed not to have been scheduled at least once on Chatrier -- he has only played on Court Suzanne Lenglen once -- he said he was happy to leave the spotlight to others and follow his own path. "There's still (Novak) Djokovic and Nadal in the tournament so I'm really okay where I play," he said. "If, on Wednesday, I were to play on a huge court, this would be okay. But for the time being it's okay for me, the small courts. "I really don't care about this. I'll follow my path, my career," added Ferrer. "I try and play each match as best I can to win. "I fully understand the ones in the limelight are other players like Nadal and Djokovic and mainly when they reach the quarter-finals. I have nothing to complain about." (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Tony Jimenez)