He then lost to Nadal in back-to-back quarterfinals in the Masters event of Mutua Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d'Italia. At the French Open, Ferrer reached his first Grand Slam final without dropping a set. He defeated three of his compatriots, Albert Montañés, Feliciano López, and Tommy Robredo, all in straight sets, to reach his sixth Grand Slam semifinal. He then defeated sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the final, where he was defeated by defending champion Rafael Nadal. Despite failing to win the title, Ferrer regained the world no. 4 spot from Nadal on the basis of earning more points than the previous year, while Nadal defended his entire points total from 2012.