Ferrer then entered the European clay-court swing. His first tournament was the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he was seeded 11th. In the first round, he defeated qualifier Peter Luczak, and then defeated Andrey Golubev in the second round. He defeated Ivan Ljubičić in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber to advance to the semifinals, where he was again defeated by Nadal. Next, Ferrer participated in the 2010 Torneo Godo, where he was seeded eighth. He had a first-round bye and defeated Marcel Granollers in the second round. In the third round, he crushed Simone Bolelli before Bolelli retired with a wrist injury, and then defeated Thomaz Bellucci in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he played Fernando Verdasco. Ferrer was leading Verdasco, 7–6, 4–2, before ultimately losing. Ferrer's next tournament was the 2010 Rome Masters, where he was seeded 13th. In the first round, Ferrer defeated Evgeny Korolev, and in the second round, he defeated Potito Starace. In the third round, he defeated world no. 5 Andy Murray, and then in the quarterfinals, he defeated world no. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He faced world no. 9 Fernando Verdasco for a spot in his first Masters 1000 event final. Ferrer ultimately succumbed to Rafael Nadal in the final. Due to his fantastic run in Rome, his ranking increased to world no. 12. Ferrer's next tournament was the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he was seeded ninth. In the first round, he defeated Jérémy Chardy and defeated Marcos Baghdatis after fending off a match point. He then defeated Marin Čilić to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he, for the second successive time, beat world no. 4 Andy Murray. In the semifinals, Ferrer lost to world no. 1 Roger Federer in three sets. Ferrer's next tournament was the 2010 French Open, where he entered as a favorite. He began his campaign with a victory over French wildcard David Guez, and then defeated Xavier Malisse when Malisse had to retire. In the third round. he fell to surprise semifinalist Jürgen Melzer.