Taken from the Official TMS Monte Carlo website
21 April 2002

Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero claimed his first Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo title with a straight sets victory against fellow countryman Carlos Moya to win the first all-Spanish final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

Ferrero, the No. 2 seed, came through 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours to claim his second career Tennis Masters Series shield following his victory in Rome last year.

“It’s a very important victory for me,” said Ferrero, who moves up to 13th position in the ATP Champions Race 2002. “It gives me a lot of confidence in myself. The best players in the world were here.”

It was an impressive victory for Ferrero, who arrived in Monte Carlo lacking match fitness after suffering from a stress fracture in his left foot. But after recording a first round win over Albert Portas, saving a match point in his victory over Felix Mantilla in the second and consecutive wins against Marcelo Rios, Tommy Haas and Sebastien Grosjean to reach the final, Ferrero was back to his best.

“I’m very pleased with the level of tennis I have shown all week,” said Ferrero. “If I can win here, there’s no reason why I cannot do well at Roland Garros.”

The first set went with serve and was seemingly heading for a tie-break until Ferrero forged an opening in the 12th game. A deep shot to Moya’s backhand on the first break point of the match was enough to clinch the set and Ferrero was on his way to winning his fifth consecutive match against Moya in six meetings.

While their last battle in the final in Barcelona 12 months ago went five sets, Ferrero was not about to let this one slip from his grasp. Breaking the 1998 champion to love in the fourth game of the second set, Ferrero made no mistake on his own delivery to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Winning the majority of the rallies from the baseline, Ferrero was full of confidence, holding serve to love to take a two-set lead before breaking Moya in the opening game of the third. Although Moya broke back immediately, Ferrero stepped up a gear in the ninth game of the set to break serve for the fourth time in the match, and with a love service game of his own, Ferrero was the new champion.

For Moya, it was not quite the ending he was looking for after knocking out top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, and then defeating Britain’s surprise semifinalist Tim Henman late on Saturday evening.

“I’m very happy with the way I’ve been playing, but I’m disappointed today,” said Moya, who moved to eighth position in the ATP Champions Race 2002. “You never want to lose a final of a Masters Series event, but I’ve beaten some great players this week. Juan Carlos deserved to win today – he’s a great player.”

With the victory, Ferrero became the first Spanish winner in Monte Carlo since Moya in 1998.