Posts Tagged ‘2004’

from tennis.com.cn (roughly summarised by kat)
21 April 2004

The article talks about his defeat against Alex Corretja in Monte Carlo. It mentions that JC’s playing style has changed – putting more top spin on his ground strokes, meaning he hit many balls out of the court. This new style puts a lot more risk into his game, but didn’t threaten Corretja at all. So he made 28 unforced errors in 68 minutes.

The article also mentions JC used to play pretty safely – being patient at the baseline and chase down every ball. This persistance allows for his opponents to get frustrated and hit more errors. But his game has changed, even though in most occasions change is good, but on clay it takes patience. JC isn’t a big guy and doesn’t have a powerful serve, his strengths are his patience and persistance against his opponents. Now that he lost this attribute, it has become very difficult for him.

The article ended in a positive note, since the alarm bells have already sounded, maybe JC and his coach can review what happened and make more improvements.

from Tennis Week
20 April 2004
The top seed bottomed out in Monte Carlo today. Two-time defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero fell in the first round of the first Masters Series clay-court event to compatriot Alex Corretja, who scored a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
A wild card entrant into this event, Corretja advanced to a second-round meeting with Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko, who defeated Mariano Zabaleta, 6-2, 6-4.
It was only the second time in six matches Corretja conquered Ferrero. He previously beat his former Davis Cup teammate in the 2002 Kitzbuhel final on clay.
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from the official Valencia tournament website
17 April 2004
In the first semifinal of the II Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, 20-year-old Fernando Verdasco needed only 60 minutes to stun top-seed and defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-1, reaching his second career ATP-level final in the process.
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from the official Valencia tournament website
15 April 2004

Top seed and defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero lived up to the home crowd’s expectations when he defeated Czech Jan Vacek 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the II Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana Thursday. Ferrero now has three quarterfinal appearances in five events this season, but is still looking for his first title since lifting the Valencia trophy in 2003.

In the next round the 24-year-old Spaniard takes on Croatian Mario Ancic, who found himself among the final eight after scoring a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 8 seed Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. This is the 20-year-old Monte Carlo resident’s second quarterfinal effort of the season following his career-first appearance in an ATP final in Milan in February (l. to Antony Dupuis).

“It was a tough match, because Ruben is a clay court player. But I think I was playing very well,” said Ancic after the win. “I was doing the things I needed to do, playing from the back but also looking to come in,” continued the Croatian.

Ancic is looking for revenge against the Spaniard after having lost to him on two occasions in 2003.

“I’ve lost twice against him. This is his home, and I know there will be lots of people on his side. No matter what, I will have to play a little better in the quarterfinals, but I’m feeling good.”

from the official Valencia tournament website
13 April 2004

Top seed and defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero advanced to the second round of the the II Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana on Tuesday, scoring a comfortable 6-2, 7-5 win over close friend and wild card Israel Matos Gil. The 21-year-old Spaniard is a member of the Academia Equelite-Juan Carlos Ferrero in Villena and made his debut at an ATP-level event this week.

This was Ferrero’s first ATP clay court event of the season and over the weekend he led Spain to a 4-1 victory over the Netherlands at the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Palma de Mallorca, winning his two singles matches.

The Spaniard holds a 12-4 match record for the season but has yet to win an ATP title in 2004. His best effort is a final appearance in Rotterdam, where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Last year he claimed four titles in as many as seven finals, including Roland Garros, his first Grand Slam crown, the ATP Masters Series event in Monte-Carlo, and Valencia.

Ferrero’s opponent in the second round is Czech Jan Vacek, a player he defeated in four sets in his opening round match at the US Open last year.

from daviscup.com
11 April 2004
Carlos Moya’s 63 64 defeat of Sjeng Schalken in the fifth rubber was the icing on the cake for the host nation, cementing a 4-1 defeat over the Netherlands. Earlier today Juan Carlos Ferrero secured Spain’s place in September’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal with a win over Martin Verkerk in the fourth live rubber.
The fifth rubber was the first opportunity for Schalken to take to the court despite having the highest ranking in the Dutch team. It was a tactical decision that Dutch captain Tjerk Bogstra made on Thursday after he decided that Schalken was not ready to play at his best level on Friday.
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