Coming into this tournament Ferrero was desperately short of confidence. He’d had a poor hardcourt season and lost in the second round of his one claycourt tournament last week in Estoril.

But then he came back from match point down in the second round against his compatriot Felix Mantilla, won on a final set tiebreak, and he was back on track. He dropped just one more set after that, and while the outcome of the final was influenced in part by a worsening groin strain Moya had been carrying since his 6-1, 7-5 win over Alex Corretja, it’s hard to see who would have beaten Ferrero in this form.

The first set was very even, with Moya having the early break points. Ferrero’s first didn’t come until the 12th game, but then it was set point, and with Moya taking the pace off his hitherto dangerous groundstrokes, Ferrero seized his opportunity to take the first set.

As Moya threw down his racket in disgust, it seemed to signal the end of his chances, and when he was broken to love in the fourth game of the second set Ferrero was in the driving seat.

Moya needed treatment on his groin strain at the start of the third set, and although he went a break down, he went for broke and broke straight back. The strategy worked well until the ninth game, when Ferrero used every available angle to move Moya around the court, and broke to love. Moments later he served out the victory to love, finishing by hitting an unreturnable second serve.

“I think I played a perfect game,” said Ferrero. “I did everything that I wanted to do, so I’m really happy.”

Moya, who thanked the medical services for getting him fit to play, said he might not have won even if he had been fit. “Ferrero has beaten me the last five times, and four of them I was 100 per cent, but really I wanted to cry on court because I have been looking forward to playing in a big final and there I was with an injury. But I’m happy with my week, and I hope Monte Carlo will be the start of another good run for me.”

In the past nine years, four players have used success in Monte Carlo as a springboard to winning the French Open, including Moya in 1998. Ferrero has lost in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in the past two years, but with Gustavo Kuerten still not back on court after hip surgery (he’s due back in Mallorca in a week’s time), Ferrero looks well placed to become the fifth Monte Carlo champion in 10 years to triumph in Paris.

Fittingly, the first Masters Series doubles tournament to feature Match Tie-breaks was decided on one. Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman defended their title by beating Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Both Woodbridge and Bjorkman are outspoken critics of the Match Tiebreak system, but they picked up their fifth title together by winning three successive matches on the first-to-ten-points formula.

Extract taken from Deuce – by David Massey (Inaugural Issue 2002)
the Official Magazine of the ATP

They represent the three battalions of the all-conquering Spanish Armada. Tommy Robredo, the emerging teenage talent; Juan Carlos Ferrero, the youthful twentysomething who has already staked a claim in the top 10; and Alex Corretja, the enduring veteran who still packs a punch.

Spain’s depth of talent far exceeds all other nations and was a key factor in its first Davis Cup win in 2000. Sixteen Spanish players finished 2001 ranked in the top 100 – double that of the United States, and far more than France and Argentina (tied for second with nine).

But world tennis can no longer be measured by player rankings and the number of tournaments won. The Spaniards have injected their own brand of style, charm and personality into the ATP circuit. Here, Ferrero, Robredo and Corretja showcase some of that style.
Juan Carlos Ferrero (by David Massey)

On the surface, life couldn’t get much better for Juan Carlos Ferrero. At 22, he’s already a multimillionaire, a national sporting hero and an emerging celebrity who rubs shoulders with his namesake, the nation’s king. But Ferrero has battled – and at the same time been inspired by – a personal tragedy during his remarkable climb to the pinnacle of professional tennis.

When 17, Ferrero’s life was shattered when his mother died of breast cancer. “I was on the verge of leaving tennis; it was a tremendous blow,” he says openly. In the early months following his mother’s death, Ferrero turned to his coach, Antonio Martinez, whom he describes as one of the most inspirational people in his life. “He helped me a lot with the loss of my mother.”

Instead of being consumed by the grief, the loss became Ferrero’s central motivation. His mother had always been extremely proud of her son’s tennis abilities, and Ferrero’s on-court success provided him with great happiness and solace, knowing that his mother would have been proud of his achievements.

The lightly framed Spaniard became known among his peers as the “mosquito” for his extraordinarily quick feet and astounding court coverage. His first ATP title came in September 1999, when he defeated countryman Alex Corretja at the Mallorca Open, where centre court sits inside a converted bullring. “When I won my first tournament in Mallorca, the kiss toward heaven was for her [his mother].”

As a youngster, Ferrero was groomed on hard courts, but he soon blossomed on clay. He reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros in 2000, losing to eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten in a grueling five-set match. Later that year, he defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter to lead Spain to victory over Australia in the Davis Cup final.

In 2001, Ferrero found the momentum to claim ATP titles in Dubai, Estoril and Barcelona, before beating Kuerten in another epic five-set match at the Tennis Masters Series Roma. Ferrero, therefore, entered Roland Garros with confidence, but his goal of a first Grand Slam was again stymied by archrival Kuerten. Ferrero concluded the best season of his young career by reaching the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney and by finishing fifth in the ATP Champions Race.

Despite residing in Villena, southern Spain, Ferrero travels to the capital whenever he can to watch his beloved Real Madrid – or, perhaps, to take tea with King Juan Carlos I.

To read more on the other Spanish players – Tommy Robredo & Alex Corretja, plus many more very interesting articles on the world of the ATP, get your copy of Deuce from the Official ATP website.