from scotsman.com by Moira Gordon
23 May 2004

WHEN Juan Carlos Ferrero won at the French Open at Roland Garros 12 months ago, he honoured a bet to take a pair of clippers and shear the locks off his backroom staff. A year on, just making it into the second week of the event could prove to be a closer shave.

Such is the strength in depth of the men’s game as they embark on the second Grand Slam of the year that any one of well over half a dozen players could be considered genuine title contenders on the Paris clay as the tournament gets underway again this week.

Which is bad news for the Spaniard. With the challenge from his rivals looking stronger than ever, the 23-year-old is struggling to find the mettle and the stamina needed to succeed in rudimentary competition, let alone a two-week Grand Slam slog, with four and five-set battles more likely than not. He pushed himself to the limits in 2003 and, granting himself little respite before the new campaign got underway, when he chose to represent his country rather than take a much needed breather, the player, who only just lost out to Andy Roddick in the Champions Race, is weaker, mentally and physically than he would like as he goes into his favoured slam.
Defending champion he may be but he is far from a safe bet to regain the title, which seems crazy given the calibre of his recent runs in the competition. Through to the last four in both 2000 and 2001, and the beaten finalist in 2002, he maintained the upward momentum last year to triumph in one of the most one-sided French Open finals in the past couple of decades, defeating Martin Verkerk 6-1 6-3 6-2.

But while 2004 started well – as he found enough left in the tank from 2003 to progress all the way to the semi-final in the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne – he was ultimately ousted by a sharper, fitter and more-rested Roger Federer, who went on to win the title. He then reached the final of his next event, the Rotterdam International Series, but again the battery went dead before he could cross the finishing line.

Energy levels already in need of topping up, he was forced to withdraw from the Indian Wells event at the beginning of March when he was felled by chicken pox, the man nicknamed Mosquito – due to his speed and small physique – only returned to represent Spain in team competition in April.

A semi-final showing at the International Series event in Valencia quickly followed but when asked to step it up a gear in the Monte Carlo Master Series a few days later, there was nothing to give and he stumbled at the first hurdle. Eliminated by fellow-Spaniard Alex Corretja, an ageing player who is not even ranked in the world’s top 100, one suspects the day replaced the defeat in Valencia, as “one of the worst days of my life”.

Knowing his actions would incur a fine, he still refused to turn up at the after-match press conference and has since gone into a form of self-imposed exile in an attempt to rediscover some form, fight and self-confidence.

While he has been recharging batteries and banishing mental demons, rivals have been collecting titles and attempting to peak at the right time, which makes his retention of the Musketeer’s Cup all the less likely.

“I think the key to the match was that mentally I was perfect … all the time I was perfect,” he said after last year’s final. “When he broke me in the second set I was mentally strong and I kept going all the time to try to break again. And I did it well.” Such self-belief, such strength. What a difference a year makes.

Shortly after the Open success he said: “Right now, I think that I can win it more times, because this time I think I played a wonderful two weeks. Only one match went five sets, one in four; all the rest in three. So I think I played very, very good for two weeks.”

Now he is struggling to find such assurance and while the rest period may have helped his weary limbs, it will have been ineffective in banishing the blues – especially as others have been proving they now have what it takes to mount a serious challenge to the man deemed the best clay-courter in the world in recent years.

In the three Master Series warm-up events on the beaten earth, at Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg, three different men have been crowned champions, with only Guillermo Coria featuring in two of the finals, beating Rainer Schuettler in Monaco before losing to Roger Federer in Germany.

In between, Carlos Moya re-established himself as a major threat by triumphing over David Nalbandian in the Italian finale. Add to those names the likes of reigning World No.1 Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and even Britain’s Tim Henman, whose own clay form is improved, and the passage to the latter stages is far from assured.

The French Open organisers have mirrored Ferrero’s ATP entry standing, ranking him fourth. It will be a help, but, ironically, that bout of chicken pox may yet prove his other greatest ally. If his close-knit backroom staff have managed to safeguard his fragile mind from the doubts which cripple some athletes when they are left with too much time to ponder, the lay-off will see him more rested than he would have been and while he’ll definitely need his wits about him, to retain his title he’ll most definitely need willing limbs.