from the official Roland Garros website by Eric Salliot
19 May 2003

After winning in Monte-Carlo, Juan Carlos Ferrero surprised everybody by declaring his intention to one day win the US Open and “prove that Spaniards can win on other surfaces than clay.” This being said, the man from Valencia knows deep down that his best chance to win a major is in Paris, and after reaching two semi-finals and losing in last year’s final to countryman Albert Costa, many pundits make him top choice to triumph in 2003.

This Spring has seen Juan Carlos run into a rich vein of form on clay, winning nineteen times and only losing twice: against Marat Safin in the semis in Barcelona and versus Roger Federer again in the semis in the Italian Open on 10 May. The latter defeat came when Juan Carlos was forced to retire hurt while trailing 6/2, 4-2 due to pain in his right arm.

“I felt the first twinges in my first game of the tournament and then it got worse against Roger. It’s swollen up but it’ll be fine after 4 or 5 days rest” he declared in Rome. Antonio Martinez’s charge can count himself lucky the injury didn’t occur any later. “In retrospect, I suppose playing 4 or 5 weeks in a row is a bit much…much too much. Last year I didn’t play in the tournament in Majorca but this year it was moved to Valencia so I just had to be there” said the n°3 in the ATP Champions Race.
At home, in Valencia

In Valencia he won in front of his home town crowd but paid for it a week later. By declaring forfeit for the Masters Series in Hamburg he was able to rest up at home in Villena. This week he also forgoes the Nations Cup in Düsseldorf leaving the honours to compatriots Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja. Caution is therefore the watchword for Ferrero in the build up to the most important tournament of his season. Last year he shrugged off a sprained ankle incurred against third round opponent Nicolas Coutelot only to let his nerves get the better of him against an imperious Costa in the final.

We should know soon enough after his first round game whether Ferrero has completely recovered from his injury. Should this be the case, he could become the fifth Spaniard after Andres Gimeno, Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moya and Albert Costa to bring the French Open trophy back across the Pyrenees.