Spaniard charges into quarterfinals
from the official ATP website
19 January 2003

Juan Carlos Ferrero is making up for his lost opportunity in Melbourne last year by winning through to the Australian Open quarterfinals Sunday. Ferrero, who turns 23 next month, stopped dead in its tracks the charge of 18-year-old Mario Ancic with a brutal 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Croat.

It is the first time Ferrero has passed the fourth round of a Grand Slam other than at his beloved Roland Garros, where last year he was the beaten finalist and a semifinalist the two years before that. Ferrero missed the Australian Open last year through injury.
Ferrero finished the ATP Champions Race 2002 in fourth position and inside the Top 5 for the second consecutive year. He continued to shed the tag of “clay court specialist” last season by winning 22 of 34 matches on hard court, winning the Hong Kong title on hard court, and by pushing Lleyton Hewitt to five sets in the final of Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai on hard court.

Ferrero is 8-1 on hard courts this year, having reached the Sydney final last week.

“I know it’s the first time I’ve made the quarterfinals outside Roland Garros,” he said. “I think I’ve been playing well on hard courts and I’ve kept improving, and I thought the results would come. I know I can play very well here.”

Ferrero next meets the winner of Wayne Ferreira and Sargis Sargsian.