Juan Carlos Ferrero || Juanqui.net || A Juan Carlos Ferrero website » review

Perpetually Injured Ferrero Drops from Hot to Not

kat — Sat, 21 Aug 2004 04:25:31 +0000

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.
If you checked the multitude of international tennis headlines on the Internet over the last two weeks during the Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati you would have received a snapshot of the former No. 1’s year, and his even-further decline on the tennis radar.

A first-round retirement at the Masters Series-Canada barely garnered a headline last month, buried amidst the jubilation of the even-lower-seeded Andre Agassi outlasting Tommy Haas in the featured night match. Ferrero’s second-round loss the following week at the MS-Cincinnati was an even smaller footnote.

Outside of Spain, sometimes you get the feeling that if tomorrow Ferrero pulled a Ricky Williams, the average tennis fan outside of Europe would say “Juan Carlos whoseit?”

Which begs two questions: Why isn’t Juan Carlos Ferrero more popular? And why the hell is he getting injured every other week in 2004?

The answer to the latter question has everything to do with the Spaniard’s draining run at the end of 2003, which in a three-month period included a runner-up effort at the US Open, the Davis Cup semifinal, a runner-up at Bangkok, a title at the Masters Series-Madrid, a 3rd round effort at the Masters Series-Paris, then the Masters Cup, then the David Cup final.

The exhaustion point hit at the MS-Paris. That third round loss was the beginning of a six-loss streak to end the year. Not exactly the condition you want to be in when entering a tournament consisting solely of the Top 8 players in the world, or going into the Davis Cup final with two best-of-five singles matches ahead of you.

Ferrero was dead tired at the end of his 2003 campaign, and physically he never had the chance to recover.

In January the Spaniard lamented his condition after playing through injury in a losing effort in the semifinals at the Australian Open.

“I didn’t have so much time to prepare in December, starting here in Australian Open,” Ferrero said. “Just have 15 days to prepare physically. And, you know, also tennis, after take a rest 15 days, I was in holidays. So, of course, I didn’t have so much time to prepare. And maybe it’s part of the problem that I have now.”

The Spaniard then skipped representing Spain in the first round of Davis Cup play, with his injuries at that time including his leg and abs.

After some rest it looked like a recovery was eminent for The Mosquito when in February he reached the finals indoors in Rotterdam (l. to Lleyton Hewitt), but nagging injuries turned to plain bad luck when the following month he contracted chicken pox. The illness forced him to miss a number of events during the U.S. spring swing (MS-Indian Wells) and during his favorite time of the year, the beginning of the claycourt season, roughly a month and a half total on the couch.

Upon his return to the tour Ferrero helped Spain through the Davis Cup quarterfinals against The Netherlands and reached the semifinals in his homecountry event at Valencia. In his next event, at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo, Ferrero suffered a 2-6, 3-6 blowout at the hands of countryman Alex Corretja, then cited a new wrist injury in pulling from the Masters Series events at Hamburg and Rome, an entire month of inactivity leading to the French Open.

At Roland Garros it looked like Ferrero might play his way back into form after a four-set win over Tommy Haas, but in the second round he was blown out by the unheralded Russian Igor Andreev in straight sets.

The Spaniard skipped the grasscourt warm-ups, essentially giving himself another three weeks off before showing up at Wimbledon to pay homage to the British press, losing in the third round to Robby Ginepri.

After more than a week’s rest, Ferrero’s appearance on clay at Gstaad should have been a triumphant return, but was instead a rather disparaging look at how far the former No. 1’s game had fallen, both physically and mentally. The Spaniard was dismissed in the first round in straight sets by Austrian retriever Stefan Koubek.

“I’m not playing my best tennis,” said Ferrero in the understatement of the year, at that point 6-4 on clay in 2004. “I cannot find my game, I’m sadly lacking confidence.”

The Spaniard hoped his luck would change by jetting to the U.S. to begin his summer hardcourt swing at the Masters Series-Canada. But midway through the first set of his first round match, he was hit by leg and back pain, resulting in another pull-out, another missed opportunity, another failure to put some much-needed ranking points up on the board.

“I started to feel a lot of pain in my legs, you know, and I couldn’t arrive (at) the ball so good,” Ferrero said after withdrawing in his match with Fabrice Santoro. “I don’t know how it’s going to be. I hope that it’s going to be like three or four days after doing treadmill all days and I hope to be ready for Cincinnati but I don’t know.”

“I don’t know” is a familiar refrain these days for the Spaniard, who struggles to understand how he could be plagued by so many injuries, especially after an early pro and junior career that was for the most part injury-free.

“What happened to me, I don’t know,” Ferrero said. “Of course it’s a bad year for me but, you know, I expect I will come play some good tournaments until the end of the year, you know, and try to get confidence again, you know, and try to play good tennis that I was doing at the start of the year.”

From near-year-end-No. 1 in 2003 to possibly missing this year’s Masters Cup is an injustice for the former claycourt specialist who has adapted to becoming an all-surface threat at the age of 24.

As to the other question, why Ferrero has failed to catch the fancy of the tennis masses outside of Spain/Europe proper, let’s go to that Clown Prince of the Post-match Conference, that Sultan of the Sound Bite, Russia’s Marat Safin.

“I think that you have your own players and you like very much your players, the American ones,” Safin told American journalists earlier this year after asked about Ferrero staying under the radar. “Nobody really cares about the Spanish players, especially here. Nobody cares about it.

“Exactly also for the players from other countries. At least there is a lot of people, they know only (Andre) Agassi, (Andy) Roddick and (James) Blake. I think it’s normal. Also, (Ferrero) is not also popular in Russia. Nobody knows him. Nobody cares about him. The people from Europe, yes, they know him, because he’s traveling and he’s playing in Europe.”

Safin also elaborated on the promotion, or lack of promotion, of the top non-American players such as Ferrero.

“Tennis is so — they don’t promote it very well,” Safin said. “They don’t get enough hours to show on TV because it’s not entertaining anymore. That’s the main reason. That’s the main reason that the people like us, like Ferrero, Federer and Safin and Roddick — okay, Roddick, because he is American, but normally, nobody really knows the players and not really interested to watch these kind of matches.

“Spanish players, they are quiet, famous enough in Europe. Maybe because their tennis is not really unbelievably attractive, could be one of the reasons…They want to see like maybe a John McEnroe, they want to see Boris Becker, or they want to see big names, more interesting game. They want to see little bit serve and volley and some nice shots. You cannot see that from the Spanish players.”

Ferrero thought that situation would change last year after gaining the US Open final.

“This time I think the people is gonna know me very good,” said Ferrero after steamrolling some of the top opposition to gain the final. “I win Agassi; he’s very popular here. I’m in the final beating Hewitt, Agassi and Todd Martin — you know, one of the guys that are playing so good in hardcourt, and especially in hardcourt. So I think right now it’s my time.”

Guess again.

After getting Babolated in the final by Roddick, the Spaniard failed to grab the attention of American fans, who were too enamored with A-Rod winning his first slam and closing on the No. 1 ranking. It was Roddick who was put on the promotional merry-go-round by the ATP, and Ferrero who was shuttled back to Spain.

Almost one year later, J.C. finds himself void of the confidence and physical prowess that almost led him to the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking. Instead, he enters the Athens Olympics this weekend as a target for lower-ranked players who realize they could get the injury-win if they just hang around long enough. Then it’s on to the US Open where an early-round loss could result in an exit from the Top 10, and surely sink his hopes of qualifying for the Masters Cup.

Fame on the international level, for whatever reason, failed Ferrero last year when he won the French Open and finished runner-up in New York. This year, mired in injury and failing to accomplish anything at the majors, the fame-o-meter is threatening to relegate the talented Mosquito to the nether regions of three-named Spaniards and Argentines that globe-hop the fractious world of professional tennis.

Somebody tell the skinny chavalito it’s time to eat a sandwich and take a break.

The Mosquito Unmasked

kat — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 04:31:55 +0000

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.
Ferrero also has a very good drop shot on the forehand side. Mindful of that, opponents often don’t know where to stand. Stand too far back and he’ll make you pay with a drop shot you can’t run down. Stand too close and he’ll hit through you with power. Coupled with his excellent mobility, Ferrero’s versatile forehand allows him to defend effectively when his opponent has the upperhand. His foot speed allows him to get to the ball with enough time to respond with a forehand that seizes back the initiative from his opponent.

Serve – Although it’s not spectacular when compared with the serves of Roddick and Dent, Ferrero’s serve, particularly his second serve, is underrated. His mission isn’t to serve a bunch of aces or unreturnable serves. Instead he positions his serve to set up for his second shot, from where he can begin to control the point. On clay Ferrero will kick his serve wide on the ad court to set up a forehand. Unless you come up with a big return or hit aggressively down the line, he will jump on the forehand and begin to move you around. His service placement is good, and he changes speed and direction effectively.

Backhand – Overshadowed only slightly by his outstanding forehand, Ferrero’s backhand is similarly technically sound and gives him the ability to change pace and direction effectively. His ability to hit winners down the line is a huge asset, particularly against players who like to back away to the ad court and unleash big forehands. The threat of Ferrero’s down-the-line backhand often takes away the big forehand weapons of players like Carlos Moya, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu, because they can’t afford to leave the deuce court exposed. The warning to all opponents is that you cannot cheat against Ferrero. If you creep too far to the ad court to hit big forehands, he’ll make you pay. Ferrero can also open up the court with short, angled backhands across court. He defends well with his slice, and he is comfortable converting to the one-hand slice when he is pulled wide or if he is chasing a drop shot.

Court speed – They don’t call him “The Mosquito” for nothing. Just when you think you have him beaten, he’ll use his speed and anticipation to counter with a shot as good as or better than yours. His speed and mobility are among his greatest assets.

He is a very elastic player–he stretches like a rubber band. He’ll slide 10 feet and still have perfect balance and recover quickly to regain an equal footing in the point. Sometimes you get players who are quick but not elastic. They get to the ball, but they don’t recover so well for the next shot. Not so, Ferrero!

Volleys – I wouldn’t classify Ferrero as a natural volleyer. When he ventures to the net, it’s usually behind a forcing groundstroke that is likely to be rewarded with a relatively easy put-away volley. Despite preferring to play from the baseline, Ferrero has very good hands that allow him to hit solid volleys and to pick up some challenging half-volleys. It’s a part of his game that has been developing in recent years, and the more he exposes himself to the net, the better he will get. Because he can hold his own at net, Ferrero doesn’t need to gamble quite as much as other clay courters on overly aggressive approach shots. Other clay court players might go for too much from mid-court because they don’t want to see the ball come back.

Returns – Like most clay courters, Ferrero is a dangerous returner on slowe surfaces when he exploits the extra reaction time. He is devastating when returning the second serve, whether stepping into the court to meet it early or stepping back to rifle a big forehand. If stretched wide, he can defend well, often with a well-placed chip.

After losing to him in five sets at last year’s US Open, Todd Martin said that if you don’t stretch Ferrero or back up a big serve with a solid volley, then he’ll put you under a lot of pressure with his second shot, as his speed allows him to set up early for the pass.

Returning big first serves of guys like Roddick, Ferrero’s plan is to put as many balls back into play and then take a crack at the second shot. Having said that, I felt Ferrero made a mistake in the 2003 US Open final against Roddick when he changed his game plan and went for too much on the first-serve return.

Drop shot – On a slower surface, where the ball “holds” a little more, the drop shot becomes a potent weapon in Ferrero’s arsenal. On clay, if Ferrero backs an opponent 10 feet behind the baseline, it’s not easy to hit winners. So what does he do? He’ll go boom, boom with a couple of big forehands and then catch his opponent by surprise with the drop shot.

At one point, I thought the drop shot was disappearing from pro tennis, but the touch and disguise of guys like Ferrero have kept alive this wonderful part of our game. His deception is best on the forehand side, where he delays his grip change until he begins his swing. By the time the opponent sees his continental grip, it’s often too late. When he is the one running down a drop shot, Ferrero is equally good. His speed carries him to most balls, and he slides so well that he arrives perfectly balanced. When he beat Albert Costa in the 2003 Roland Garros semifinals, he used a lot of drop shots to great effect.

Other qualities
Surfaces – People who dismiss Ferrero as a clay courter don’t know much. Last year he became the first player since Lendl in 1980 to win 30 or more matches in both clay and hard courts. Footwork, balance, athleticism, and a compact game allow him to adopt to any surface. He’s tough to beat unless you use speed, so a slick court is perhaps the only troubling surface for him. But in recent years, even the Wimbledon grass has given baseliners a chance to succeed.

Fitness – He is in great shape and works veyr hard at tournaments. Don’t count on Ferrero tiring; he has the endurance and intensity to finish a five-set match the way he started it.

Tactics – When you see Ferrero play, you quickly realize how smart he is. He makes other people adjust to his game, which is the trait of a champion. He has a good feel for the game and a good sense of what is opponent is doing. Your best chance is to limit his options by serving big and making first serves instead of rallying. He is like a casino: The longer you play, the more the odds shift in his favor.

Mental toughness – Promising young players become great by facing serious pressure, and Ferrero has shown true mental toughness since helping Spain win the 2000 Davis Cup. He’s won four ATP Masters Series titles from five finals appearances, and in ‘03 he won Roland Garros and reached the US Open final. He’s aggressive and tough–a perfect combination when the chips are down on big occasions.

Ferrero engine shows signs of wear and tear

kat — Mon, 24 May 2004 05:27:01 +0000

from scotsman.com by Moira Gordon
23 May 2004

WHEN Juan Carlos Ferrero won at the French Open at Roland Garros 12 months ago, he honoured a bet to take a pair of clippers and shear the locks off his backroom staff. A year on, just making it into the second week of the event could prove to be a closer shave.

Such is the strength in depth of the men’s game as they embark on the second Grand Slam of the year that any one of well over half a dozen players could be considered genuine title contenders on the Paris clay as the tournament gets underway again this week.

Which is bad news for the Spaniard. With the challenge from his rivals looking stronger than ever, the 23-year-old is struggling to find the mettle and the stamina needed to succeed in rudimentary competition, let alone a two-week Grand Slam slog, with four and five-set battles more likely than not. He pushed himself to the limits in 2003 and, granting himself little respite before the new campaign got underway, when he chose to represent his country rather than take a much needed breather, the player, who only just lost out to Andy Roddick in the Champions Race, is weaker, mentally and physically than he would like as he goes into his favoured slam.
Defending champion he may be but he is far from a safe bet to regain the title, which seems crazy given the calibre of his recent runs in the competition. Through to the last four in both 2000 and 2001, and the beaten finalist in 2002, he maintained the upward momentum last year to triumph in one of the most one-sided French Open finals in the past couple of decades, defeating Martin Verkerk 6-1 6-3 6-2.

But while 2004 started well – as he found enough left in the tank from 2003 to progress all the way to the semi-final in the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne – he was ultimately ousted by a sharper, fitter and more-rested Roger Federer, who went on to win the title. He then reached the final of his next event, the Rotterdam International Series, but again the battery went dead before he could cross the finishing line.

Energy levels already in need of topping up, he was forced to withdraw from the Indian Wells event at the beginning of March when he was felled by chicken pox, the man nicknamed Mosquito – due to his speed and small physique – only returned to represent Spain in team competition in April.

A semi-final showing at the International Series event in Valencia quickly followed but when asked to step it up a gear in the Monte Carlo Master Series a few days later, there was nothing to give and he stumbled at the first hurdle. Eliminated by fellow-Spaniard Alex Corretja, an ageing player who is not even ranked in the world’s top 100, one suspects the day replaced the defeat in Valencia, as “one of the worst days of my life”.

Knowing his actions would incur a fine, he still refused to turn up at the after-match press conference and has since gone into a form of self-imposed exile in an attempt to rediscover some form, fight and self-confidence.

While he has been recharging batteries and banishing mental demons, rivals have been collecting titles and attempting to peak at the right time, which makes his retention of the Musketeer’s Cup all the less likely.

“I think the key to the match was that mentally I was perfect … all the time I was perfect,” he said after last year’s final. “When he broke me in the second set I was mentally strong and I kept going all the time to try to break again. And I did it well.” Such self-belief, such strength. What a difference a year makes.

Shortly after the Open success he said: “Right now, I think that I can win it more times, because this time I think I played a wonderful two weeks. Only one match went five sets, one in four; all the rest in three. So I think I played very, very good for two weeks.”

Now he is struggling to find such assurance and while the rest period may have helped his weary limbs, it will have been ineffective in banishing the blues – especially as others have been proving they now have what it takes to mount a serious challenge to the man deemed the best clay-courter in the world in recent years.

In the three Master Series warm-up events on the beaten earth, at Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg, three different men have been crowned champions, with only Guillermo Coria featuring in two of the finals, beating Rainer Schuettler in Monaco before losing to Roger Federer in Germany.

In between, Carlos Moya re-established himself as a major threat by triumphing over David Nalbandian in the Italian finale. Add to those names the likes of reigning World No.1 Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and even Britain’s Tim Henman, whose own clay form is improved, and the passage to the latter stages is far from assured.

The French Open organisers have mirrored Ferrero’s ATP entry standing, ranking him fourth. It will be a help, but, ironically, that bout of chicken pox may yet prove his other greatest ally. If his close-knit backroom staff have managed to safeguard his fragile mind from the doubts which cripple some athletes when they are left with too much time to ponder, the lay-off will see him more rested than he would have been and while he’ll definitely need his wits about him, to retain his title he’ll most definitely need willing limbs.

Roland Garros Draw Offers Difficulties For Favorites

kat — Sun, 23 May 2004 05:34:18 +0000

from Tennis Week by Richard Pagliaro
22 May 2004

The Mosquito’s baseline bite helped him soar to supremacy in Paris last year. But illness, injury and inadequate preparation have set a fly-trap that may well sap the sting from defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in his efforts to raise the Roland Garros title trophy again.

Roland Garros begins on Monday. The draws for the clay-court drama were released today and present challenging pictures for three of the primary contenders: top-seeded Roger Federer, third-seeded Guillermo Coria and Ferrero.

In the past, the tournament has served as a clay-court canvas for skilled clay-court players to produce a Parisian paradise with their signature strokes. Ferrero crafted his first Grand Slam championship on the red clay last year, but the man affectionately nicknamed “The Mosquito” must face a series of adversaries — wrist and rib injuries that have limited him to one light practice session this week — before he even gets to his experienced opening-round opponent, former No. 2 Tommy Haas. The fourth-seeded Ferrero is 2-0 against Haas, with both wins coming on clay, but the unseeded German claimed his first career clay-court championship in Houston last month beating defending Andy Roddick in the final.
The injuries are the latest setback for the former No. 1, who contracted the chicken pox at Indian Wells in March and sat out the entire month. Ferrero has been limited to just five ATP Tour clay-court matches this year and has not played since suffering a 6-2, 6-3 setback to compatriot Alex Corretja in the opening round of the Tennis Masters Series-Monte Carlo on April 19th. Should Ferrero survive his aches and pains and the hurt Haas can impose on opponents, he could face a potential fourth-round test from either Gaston Gaudio or Guillermo Canas.

… Ferrero’s quarter of the draw includes 26th-seeded compatriot Albert Costa, who crushed Ferrero in the 2002 final to take home the title, 19th-seeded Martin Verkerk, who fell to Ferrero in last year’s final and 12th-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, who has staged several dramatic duels with Ferrero in the past. The Hewitt-Ferrero rivalry has been as tight as an arm wrestling match between twins. Hewitt hold a 5-3 edge in the head-to-head series, but Ferrero has prevailed in both of their clay-court encounters.

…
Should the seedings hold true to form, Federer would face Ferrero in the top-half semifinal, but both must overcome challenging draws to reach the final four.

…
Among the opening-round matches that could electrify the City of Light include:

Agustin Calleri (Argentina) vs. No. 20 Marat Safin (Russia) — Calleri leads the head-to-head 2-0
No. 25 Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) vs. Hicham Arazi (Morocco) — series tied 1-1
No. 8 David Nalbandian (Argentina) vs. Richard Gasquet (France) — Nalbandian leads 1-0
No. 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) vs. Tommy Haas (Germany) — Ferrero leads 2-0
Guillermo Canas (Argentina) vs. Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) — series tied 3-3
No. 7 Rainer Schuettler (Germany) vs. Xavier Malisse (Belgium) — Schuettler leads 3-1

RG: The Defending Champion

kat — Sun, 23 May 2004 05:31:35 +0000

from ATP Tennis
22 May 2004

* THE DEFENDING CHAMPION — Juan Carlos Ferrero is trying to become the first player to repeat as champion at Roland Garros since Gustavo Kuerten in 2000-2001. But the Spaniard is trying to regain his form from last year when he came into Paris with a 21-2 clay court match record and winner of two clay court titles. This year he has been hampered by illness and injury and he enters Paris with a 5-2 clay court mark without a title. In March, Ferrero missed one month of action after contracting chicken pox. He returned in April for a quarterfinal Davis Cup against the Netherlands (winning both matches) and then followed with a semifinal showing in Valencia and first round exit in Monte Carlo on Apr. 20, his last match. He was not ready to come back until Hamburg but he injured his right wrist and ribs when he fell while practicing in Valencia on May 8 just two days before the start of the tournament.
In an AS Diario – Madrid interview on May 15, Ferrero said, “I see myself well. Starting on Monday, I’ll resume my usual training routine. I asked for a Tuesday start at Roland Garros to have an extra day. I’m fighting against the clock, because whenever I think I have recovered something else happens to me. However, I’m used to it. It’s normal that we players are always suffering from one kind of pain or other. I hope to be well when I reach Paris, if not, I’ll adapt as needed.”Other back-to-back Roland Garros winners in the Open Era: Jan Kodes (1970-71), Borg (1974-75 and 1978-81), Ivan Lendl (1986-87), Jim Courier (1991-92), Sergi Bruguera (1993-94) and, most recently, Gustavo Kuerten (2000-01).

Ferrero’s journey

kat — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 06:19:23 +0000

from the official Roland Garros website by Eric Salliot
29 April 2004

Juan Carlos Ferrero will soon return to the site of the sweetest success of his career. Since winning at Roland Garros last year, El Mosquito has soared to unprecedented heights, but there are signs that he is starting to fall back down to Earth just at the wrong time. Will the reigning champion be able to recover and hang on to his title?

If Juan Carlos Ferrero seemed to coast to victory in last year’s French Open Final, it was perhaps because he had already played that match many times before in his dreams – lifting the Musketeer’s Cup had always been his greatest ambition, and inexperienced Dutchman Martin Verkerk could do little to stop the Spaniard claiming it in straight sets (6-1, 6-3, 6-2).
The rest of the tournament had not gone so smoothly for Ferrero. He flirted with failure in the quarter-final, when Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez took him to five sets before going down 6-4 in the fifth, and in the semi-final Ferrero came face to face with Albert Costa, the man who had inflicted a heart-breaking defeat on him in the 2002 final. Happily for the Valencia native, he held his nerve to claim his spot in history.

Winning the French Open allowed Ferrero to lay to rest the ghosts of previous flops, and he has since gone on to sweep all before him. On 6 September, he achieved the ultimate by beating home-crowd favourite Andre Agassi in the semi-finals of the US Open and thereby graduating to the rank of World no. 1 for the very first time. True, he was then beaten in the final by Andy Roddick, but he could still claim to be the best player in the world.

The beginning of the end at Bercy
The Spaniard’s reign at the top was, however, only to last for 8 weeks as fatigue eventually took its toll. At first, there seemed to be no danger of a collapse, since he still had enough strength to beat arch-rival Roger Federer on his way to clinching the Madrid Masters Series, but it transpired that he was unable to sustain that standard. At the BNP Paribas Masters at Bercy, his quarter-final loss to Jiri Novak meant he had to surrender his No. 1 spot. He could have recovered it at the Masters Cup in Houston but he cut a jaded figure as he was dispatched in the pool matches by Nalbandian, Agassi and Federer.

Ferrero would probably have liked to have taken some time off at that point, but there was to be no let-up in his hectic schedule as he journeyed to Australia in early December to play for his country in the Davis Cup Final. He came close to toppling Lleyton Hewitt on the first day, as he tore into a 2-1 lead, however, he had pushed his weary body to its limits and was obliterated 7-0 in the fourth set tie-breaker before tamely losing the fifth set. On the Sunday, he lost another marathon game, this time to big-hitting Mark Philippoussis, who was spurred on by the tremendous home support to demolish Ferrero 6-0 in the fifth set – hardly a fitting way to finish what was a splendid year for the Spaniard.

If 2003 ended in disappointment, 2004 has not been much better for Ferrero, principally because he did not take enough time out to recharge his batteries. He did manage to battle to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, but once there, a combination of fatigue and sore adductors meant he found his old foe Federer too strong and succumbed in straight sets (6/4, 6/1, 6/4).

Victory seems to be eluding him at the moment, even on clay. He lost in the Rotterdam final and then had to pull out of Indian Wells and the Miami Masters Series after being struck down with chicken pox.

More disappointment was to follow when he returned to his home town of Valencia only to be ousted in the semi-finals by young left-hander Fernando Verdasco. On April 20, he seemed to hit rock bottom, when he was eliminated (6-2, 6-3) in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters by fellow-Spaniard Alex Corretja, an ageing player who is not even ranked in the world’s top 100.

Afterwards, a frustrated Ferrero refused to speak to the press. Today, a few weeks away from his return to Roland Garros, Juan Carlos’s grip on the Musketeer’s Cup seems less than tight. Nevertheless, he still has time to recover his self-confidence and get himself in shape before be begins his bid to recapture last year’s glory. Based on last year’s performances, he will be one of the favourites whatever happens between now and then.