Posts Tagged ‘2003’

from Reuters
28 June 2003
LONDON (Reuters) – French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero demonstrated he is more than just a clay-court specialist after beating Armenian Sargis Sargsian 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the last 16 of Wimbledon Saturday. Third seed Ferrero, who had never progressed beyond the third round in his previous two appearances at the grass-court grand slam, overcame a spirited fightback from the 30-year-old who has a reputation for knocking out seeds at grand slams.
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from the official Wimbledon website by Henry Wancke
27 June 2003
Juan Carlos Ferrero, the third seed and world number three, is keen to emulate Bjorn Borg’s achievement by winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
Such a feat would no doubt shoot him up the rankings and realise his other ambition – that of becoming world number one. But he will have to pick up his game if he is to achieve those goals, progressing on this occasion by courtesy of a retirement.
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from the official Wimbledon website by Ronald Atkin
25 June 2003
Juan Carlos Ferrero seems to be having little trouble adapting from the clay of Roland Garros to the grass of Wimbledon. Following his first Grand Slam success at the French Open earlier this month, the 23-year-old Spaniard was in confident and impressive mood as he dismissed the Frenchman, Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in just one hour and 21 minutes on Centre Court.
Lisnard, also 23 but ranked 94th in the world compared with Ferrero’s ranking of three, was making his Wimbledon debut. It turned out to be a harsh one, with Ferrero’s accuracy off the ground putting him on the defensive from the start. At least Lisnard had some inkling of what he might expect, since Ferrero had defeated him in straight sets at the Australian Open in January.
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from ESPN Star Sports by Jason Dasey
13 June 2003
Juan Carlos Ferrero is Spanish, he’s a clay-courter and just loves the baseline. But there’s no way you’d call the 2003 French Open champion “one-dimensional” or “boring”.
This 23-year-old from Villena breathed much needed life into Roland Garros by claiming his long overdue first Grand Slam title.
It’s easy to like Ferrero. His groundstrokes, heavy with topspin, are stunningly precise and he moves with speed and grace. And he has a charming and slightly boyish manner that endears him to everyone around him.
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8 June 2003
Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero’s dream of winning Roland Garros was finally achieved on Sunday, when he completely outclassed unseeded Martin Verkerk 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to win the title. A finalist here last year and a semifinalist in 2000 and 2001, Ferrero always felt like he was born to win the title. But he didn’t bring his game to ethereal heights until Sunday, when it seemed like he was running on air.
“I has the experience of playing bad last year in the final,” he said. “Before the match, I was thinking that I had to give my best mentally, physically and tennistically. It was a perfect final for me.”
Unlike last year when he played a nervous, sporadic match in his loss to countryman Albert Costa, Ferrero played a heady, authoritative contest, returning serve beautifully, exhausting the big Dutchman in long rallies and hammering winners to all angles of the court.
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7 June 2003
Two men poles apart will attempt to win the 2003 men’s singles title in Paris on Sunday. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero was most tipsters’ pre-tournament favorite, but he will have to find a way to circumvent the mind-blowing power of unseeded Dutchman Martin Verkerk if he is to lift the trophy aloft…
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