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After his tough but steady victory (1/6 6/3 6/2) against Italian Starace, Juan was just mastering the whole match today, defeating Maxi Gonzalez 7/5 6/2. Everything turns out to be perfect after first break at 5-5 for JC. Then, the second set was just perfect, strewned with impressive shots and an agressive and offensive game.

What strikes us the most is Juan’s ability to reverse any situation and then to break strides so as to keep ahead.

He’ll now play in semis against another Italian, Andreas Seppi, a serious opponent on clay.

BUT we inform you that because of vacation, I won’t be able to write here until August the 22nd or 23rd. But be sure I’ll be cheering with you all along !

See you very soon for more JC news and carry on using our chat for an actual exchange about champion Juan Carlos Ferrero !!

This week, Juan is playing in Umag, eventually !

After yesterday’s cancelled matches, JC was planned first on center court. aS A first round, he played against Belgian Christophe Rochus. Seeded 5  JC was very strong and consistent today, defeating his opponent 6/2 6/3.

IF his serve was not perfect, it was very incisive and decisive on key points. His return was very good and he won no less than half points on his contender’s serve !! He did not need to use his talent or his resources to get over this round, very positive for his upcoming match, either against Italian Starace, or Greul from Germany.

 

-FOR ALL FANS: There’s a special CHAT with Jc at 5pm tomorrow on the Umag official site, you can post as many questions as you like up there !

Enjoy all this, and Vamos JC !

Here is the last article I posted on ancient site, just after JC’s victory in Davis Cup, then sorry the emphasized style !! Plus you’ll find the link to the gallery’s part dedicated to the photos of the event, enjoy !

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                          

Some may say I turned shamelessly in an excess of glory and satisfaction with this title, but we may have to, after such a performance,as JC clearly appeared as the savior of The Spanish Armada !
Indeed, after an intense and hard match, though the score may be not significant, JC managed to give acces to Semis to Spain in defeating talentuous newcomer Beck from Germany, 6/4 6/4 6/4
I added related photos to the Gallery of this cheerful and pleasant moment to whole fan tennis and even more to JC’s still numerous fans !

See you soon for more JC adventure !

CONGRATULATIONS TO JCF FOR HIS WIN AT CASABLANCA!!!!
Can you believe it? He had not lost a set all week to take this title, the moment we’ve all been waiting for a LONG TIME.
Rd 1: d. Christophe Rochus 6-2 6-3
Rd 2: d. Potito Starace 6-4 7-6(1)
QF: d. Victor Hanescu 6-3 7-5
SF: d. Igor Andreev 7-6(9) 6-3
Final: d. Florent Serra 6-4 7-5

Ferrero Breaks Title Drought with Casablanca Crown
Former ATP World Tour No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero snapped a title drought dating back to October 2003 by defeating fifth-seeded Frenchman Florent Serra 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday in the final of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca to win the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.
Victory for Ferrero earns him 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €71,700 in prize money. The Spaniard reached the top spot in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on 8 September 2003, after reaching his third Grand Slam final at the US Open (l. to Roddick).
Ferrero was returning to Casablanca for the first time since making his ATP World Tour debut there as a 19 year old, when he reached the semi-finals (l. to A. Martin).
“This is a special tournament for me,” said Ferrero. “Ten years ago I played my first ATP World Tour tournament here and now I’m back winning the title. I’m very happy, it was a great week for me.”
The 29-year-old Ferrero’s last title came at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (d. Massu) in October 2003. Since then, he had contested 110 tournaments without lifting the champion’s trophy. During that span he finished runner-up at six ATP World Tour tennis tournaments at 2004 Rotterdam, 2005 Barcelona and Vienna, 2006 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati, 2007 Costa do Sauipe and 2008 Auckland.
Two breaks were exchanged early in the first set before Ferrero earned a decisive third break to close out a one-set lead 6-4. The players swapped two more breaks of serve in the second set before Ferrero once again made a key breakthrough in the 11th game to lead 6-5. The Villena resident then served out his first victory in three meetings with Serra after one hour and 36 minutes.
“It wasn’t easy because Florent was playing very aggressively and I felt a lot of pressure,” said Ferrero. “I wanted to take my chances and finally I could win which makes me very happy.”
“It is very important for my confidence that I won this tournament. This helps a lot coming back from an injury.”
Ferrero is closing on his 400th tour-level match win. Victory in Casablanca took the Spaniard to a 396-210 record. His match record in 2009 stands at 10-5, highlighted up till now by quarter-final showings at Costa do Sauipe (l. to Bellucci) and Buenos Aires (l. to Nalbandian).
The title was Ferrero’s first on clay since he captured his lone Grand Slam championship at Roland Garros (d. Verkerk) in June 2003. He improved to a 9-7 mark in clay-court finals, and to 12-16 on all surfaces. The right-hander has reached at least one ATP World Tour final in 11 consecutive seasons (since 1999).
At No. 115 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, Ferrero is the lowest-ranked winner on the ATP World Tour this year. The only other player ranked outside the Top 100 to reach a final was Somdev Devvarman in Chennai (l. to Cilic).
The 47th-ranked Serra – one of nine Frenchmen in the Top 50 of the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings – was contesting his third ATP World Tour final and drops to a 2-1 lifetime. His two titles came at 2005 Bucharest (d. Andreev) and 2006 Adelaide (d. Hrbaty).
“It was a great week for me but I’m a bit disappointed today,” said Serra. “I was nervous at the beginning and Juan Carlos was playing really well. This city is special for me since my father was born here and I dedicate this final to him.”
The 28-year-old Bordeaux native, who has an 11-10 match record on the season, was looking to become the third successive Frenchman to lift the trophy in Casablanca after Paul-Henri Mathieu triumphed in 2007 and Gilles Simon prevailed in 2008.

Another article from the week inside….
(more…)

original article from sohu.com – translated by kat
18 September 2005

Yesterday afternnon Ferrero was at the hotel restaurant enjoying “coffee time”. (ed: I’m guessing this would be like afternoon tea time or similar) Maybe it was because he reached the semi finals he was in a good mood and allowed the journalist to approach and chat with him. On the one hand Ferrero was drinking his coffee, and on the other he was reading a thick novel. When the journalist was curious to know what that book is, Ferrero politely turned it over for the journalist to see. It was another bestselling novel by the “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown – “Deception Point”. When Ferrero realised the journalist also knows Dan Brown, he seemed very happy. But maybe he was too intrigued by the storyline he quickly went back to reading the novel.

*Original article (in Chinese) can be found here*

original article from sohu.com – translated by kat
17 September 2005

Even though he has more supporters than Nadal, Ferrero lost the Spanish derby (semi final). At the after match interview Ferrero said although he has not confirmed his itinerary for next year, but Beijing has left him with a good impression so if it is possible, he will return next year.

Speaking of the semi final match against Nadal, Ferrero felt that Nadal was faster than him during the match. Although the match started off well, Nadal placed him under a lot of pressure later on. He did not take some chances and during both sets he was broken after it reached 4-4. Ferrero lost all four of his matches against Nadal this year, and he said that he haven’t played at his best level during all these matches. For example towards the end of today’s match he could not play according to his game plan. But he will continue to work on these deficiencies during practice.

Ferrero also said he will leave Beijing at about 11am on Sunday. He had good memories this week in Beijing and in his spare time, he bought many DVDs. Tomorrow is the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn festival.When he heard the stories about mooncakes Ferrero nodded his head. Maybe he was thinking of buying some for his family and friends.

*Original article (in Chinese) can be found here*