articles

from BBC.co.uk
3 September 2004
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s miserable season continued when he was beaten in the US Open second round by Stefan Koubek.

Koubek upset the 2003 runner-up 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-3.
Ferrero, who has struggled with his fitness for most of the season, had treatment for a leg injury straight after winning the third set.
Koubek seized his chance to level the match and though Ferrero had a 2-0 lead in the decider, Koubek won five games in a row before clinching the win.
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from the official US Open website by Ranon Masliyah
31 August 2004
The match was played in Louis Armstrong Stadium, but there was nothing Louis Armstrong about it — that is, until the fourth set. Unforced errors, disputed calls and a match that lasted almost five hours nearly overshadowed what could have been the biggest upset through two days of the US Open, as No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero, a 2003 Open finalist, needed five dramatic sets to outlast qualifier Tomas Zib, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, in first round play Tuesday.
It was just Zib’s second overall appearance at Flushing Meadows, and his first since losing in the first round in 1999.
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from Tennis-x.com by Richard Vach
20 August 2004
Juan Carlos Ferrero is hot.
That’s what I hear, anyway. From the wife, from the multitude of fan websites, from the chattering smiley-face-posting teens on the discussion boards.
Those eyes. That hair. Women post mini-novels on the Spaniard’s physical attributes, which is interesting since “The Mosquito” or “Chavalito” (little kid) or as he’s termed in the U.S. by many male tennis fans, “That Skinny-Ass Kid from Spain,” are not the most physically endearing of nicknames.
Perhaps it’s that particularly wiry frame that has contributed to the Spaniard’s fall from grace in 2004. Succumbing to a host of injuries (and illnesses) this year, the six-foot 160-pounds-soaking-wet Ferrero is now only a few hundred points from tumbling out of the Top 10, this only eight months after he was challenging for the year-end No. 1 ranking at the end of 2003.
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from ABC Sport
27 July 2004

Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Toronto Masters campaign ended in agony overnight when he was forced to retire from his opening round match because of a back injury.

The Spanish seventh seed was trailing 2-3 in the first set against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro when he quit after treatment from an ATP trainer failed to cure the problem.

“I hit a return and I started to feel it,” Ferrero told reporters.

“When I was serving I felt I couldn’t still play.”

Ferrero, who missed a month of competition after being diagnosed with chicken pox in March, did not know how serious his injury was.

“I hope to be ready for Cincinnati, but I don’t know,” he said, referring to next month’s Masters tournament before the US Open, the year’s final grand slam.

Ferrero, last year’s French Open champion, has endured a miserable season plagued by injuries, failing to win a title in 2004.

from Deuce Magazine by Jose Higueras
July 2004
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero has finished in the Top 5 of the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking in each of the past three years. Only Andre Agassi has done the same. Last year Ferrero became the first player in more than 20 years to win 30 or more matches on both hard courts and clay. What makes him so good? Leading coach Jose Higueras breaks down Ferrero’s game.
Forehand – Ferrero’s ability to penetrate from different parts of the court makes his forehand his biggest weapon. The shot is technically solid, allowing him to change direction with ease to go crosscourt, inside out to the ad court or down the line. He can vary the speed to make his forehand play heavier and higher, or flatten it out to crack the big winner. If presented with a short or mid-court ball on the forehand, Ferrero will likely hit a winner or a forcing shot to make his opponent miss. His ability to find all reaches of the court from that position–with a combination of power and angles–forces many opponents to guess which side he’ll hit to.
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from the official Wimbledon website
25 June 2004

America’s Robby Ginepri created the biggest upset of the men’s tournament so far by dumping the number six seed Juan Carlos Ferrero out in the third round, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

The Spaniard appeared drained by his titanic effort in coming back to defeat Stefan Koubek yesterday and could offer no resistance to the 27th seed, who wrapped up the match in 81 mintues. Ginepri will play last year’s semi-finalist Sebastien Grosjean in the last 16.

The 21-year-old made today’s task look ridiculously simple. He was only briefly troubled in the first set, when Ferrero broke him in the third game. But Ginepri bounced right back with two breaks of his own to take the set 6-3.

It seemed only moments later that he notched up another break and was steaming off with the second set, with Ferrero’s ratio of winners to errors hopelessly off key. Ginepri wrapped it up with an ace and the 2003 French Open champion was two sets down inside an hour. It was all a long way from the baseline slugathon against Koubek.