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Defending the French

kat — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 04:54:33 +0000

from Tennis Life Magazine by Eleanor Preston
June 2004

Watching Juan Carlos Ferrero shaping up to hit one of his trademark blistering forehands is a fascinating sight. He stands his ground, legs taut and eyes on the ball, and just when you think he’s going to whack seven bells out of it, everything goes into slow motion. At that moment, as he makes contact, he is suddenly gentle, as though stroking a sleeping kitten.

Of course there’s nothing remotely gentle about it by the time it comes cannoning over the net, as all Ferrero’s opponents can testify. Of all the skills Ferrero has in his talented hands, it’s the forehand that took him to the top of the world rankings and won him the French Open title last year, and it’s the forehand that may count as the most penetrating weapon when he returns to Paris to defend his title.

However, Ferrero is anything but a one-trick pony. There’s the serve, the movement, the glacial coolness under pressure and most of all the belief that it’s his destiny to be this good.
If Ferrero is a fatalist then life has given him bitter cause to be. For although his childhood in Onteniente, near the south-eastern Spanish city of Valencia, was happily spent with sisters Ana and Laura and parents Rosario and Eduardo, the family was devastated when Ferrero’s mother was stricken with cancer. He was only 16.

“It was tremendous blow and by far the saddest time of my life,” says Ferrero. “I took it very badly and I was on the verge of giving up tennis but then I thought of carrying on for her because she liked me to play tennis for her.”

Rosario Ferrero was the first person he thought of when he fell to his knees on the Court Philippe Chatrier after hitting the winning point, having overwhelmed Martin Verkerk in the French Open final. He looked up to the skies and blew her a kiss.

“In my mind, she was in the first row,” he says. “I felt a lot of emotions, a lot of joy for myself, for people around me, my family, my coach and all those people who supported me all along my career. I thought about them all at that moment. I thought about myself, too, because it was the first time I was living such a situation. I was watching the ground, and I thought, ‘This is in my pocket, and nobody can take it away from me.’”

Ferrero is not a man to pour his heart out to strangers. In matches his face barely registers emotion, save for the occasional muttered exhortation in Spanish. Off the court, in interviews, he worries about his English and so spends much of his post-match press conferences avoiding eye contact and speaking quietly and quickly, as though he wants to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible. Even in his native Spanish Ferrero is a reticent interviewee.

Since first being promoted by the ATP three years ago as one of the faces of their “New Balls Please” advertising campaign, however, Ferrero has been forced to embrace fame, albeit reluctantly.

Record crowds packed the Recinto Ferial de la Casa Campo stadium to see him win the Masters Series tournament in Madrid last October, and more than 3,000 turned up to one of his autograph sessions. He finds it hard to walk down a street anywhere in Spain without a gaggle of excited teenage girls following him.

He even has a posse of celebrity friends. As a huge fan of superstar soccer team Real Madrid he has met the squad several times and big-name players such as Zinedine Zidane, Raul and Roberto Carlos, and David Beckham came to watch him play in Madrid.

His best friends are Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia (who is, incidentally, an old flame of Martina Hingis) and World No. 2 motorcycle racer Sete Gibernau, and his hobbies have the jet-set smack you’d expect from a man who has earned more nearly $9.97 million in career prize money. When he is not watching Gibernau race bikes, he is racing them himself or picking out another sporty number to add to his collection of fast cars.

“I’m the same as always,” he says, when asked how the riches and glamour of a successful athletic career have affected his personality. “The money does not change me, the travel does not change me, the victories do not change me. I am the same person as 10 years ago, so people see me as the same person as before. I think that people see me as a normal person, that I am a good guy, not only on the court but out of the court.”

Ferrero is anxious to remain as unspoiled as possible by the money and success his talents have afforded him. And his recipe for the perfect life could not be simpler: “I want to win some matches; spend some time with my family because we are often apart; go to watch Real Madrid play soccer and to watch motorbikes and rallies because it is different from tennis.”

If Ferrero is ever tempted to get carried away with his success, he need only think back to his humble beginnings and the day when his father handed him a racket at age 4.

“When I first got a racket I aimed at the electrical sockets that were in one of the walls of the textile shop my father owned,” he says, smiling. “I don’t know how many electrical sockets I broke, but I’m sure it was more than 20. The truth is that I loved to hit and it didn’t matter to my dad that he had to change the electrical sockets, because he loves to play tennis himself.”

Eduardo Ferrero is still his son’s mentor and travels with him all over the world, alongside Antonio Martinez, the man who has coached Ferrero since he was 9 years old and saw him through the troubled times of his teenage years. Ferrero boarded at Martinez’ academy in Villena, about 25 miles from the family home and the coach remembers the Ferrero of that time as an awkward young man, introverted and suffering under the burden of his mother’s illness.“

From then on, we began a relationship that gradually transformed into a great friendship and deep affection,” Ferrero says of Martinez. “I could say that he became my best friend and almost my second father because we were together much of the time. Dur-ing those days my mother would bring me to practice after school. I remember that she always prepared a snack with milk for me and that I had to do homework during the car ride that took almost half an hour.”

He still lives at the academy, which is now run in his name for promising youth aged between 14 and 21, sharing a modest apartment with Spanish satellite player Israel Matos. A playboy’s life in some sun-drenched tax haven is not for Ferrero.

He is such a homebody that at 14 he turned down an offer most budding tennis players would kill for when he was asked to go and work at Nick Bollettieri’s academy. He said no to that offer, and a similar request from the Spanish Tennis Federation’s Center of High Performance in Sant Cugat, because he could not stand to be away from home. “I didn’t want to go because I was much more comfortable in Villena, with my family and my friends,” he says.

Indeed, Spain could scarcely hope for a more fervent patriot or Davis Cup servant. He was the hero of the hour in 2000 when he beat Lleyton Hewitt in the deciding rubber of the Davis Cup final in Barcelona, a moment that shares equal billing with the French Open in Ferrero’s personal pantheon of achievements.

On that occasion the Spanish crowd created a memorably voluble atmosphere. Oddly, for such a man so determinedly low-profile, Ferrero thrives in the noisiest, most daunting arenas in the world—he thrills at playing Davis Cup, thought nothing of taking on Andy Roddick in the cauldron of the Arthur Ashe Stadium and regards the Court Philippe Chatrier as his backyard.

“I like to play in front of big crowds and in big stadiums,” he says simply.

For a man bred with clay in his veins, they don’t come any bigger than the Stade Roland Garros. Time will tell whether he is ready to make it his own once more.

Defending Champ Ferrero Falls In Roland Garros Second Round

kat — Sat, 29 May 2004 06:16:47 +0000

from Tennis Week by Ronald Green
28 May 2004

The silhouette’s sagging shoulders told the story of the one-sided scoreline: an injured Juan Carlos Ferrero was a slumping shadow of himself today. The red clay of Roland Garros served as a burial ground for the defending champion Ferrero who fell 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round to 77th-ranked Russian Igor Andreev.

It was just the fourth time in the Open Era a defending Roland Garros champion succumbed in the second round. The last time a defending champion bowed out in the second round was in 2000 when Andre Agassi was upset by Karol Kucera, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.
Struggling with wrist and rib injuries that came after he contracted a case of the chicken pox that sidelined him for more than a month, Ferrero’s injuries and inactivity caught up with him in this match. His 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 opening-round victory over Tommy Haas was Ferrero’s first match 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. He stepped on Chatrier Court today to play just his seventh ATP clay-court match of the season and clearly lacked the sharpness that made him the world’s premier clay-court player last year.

Given his lack of preparation and ailing and aching body, it’s hardly shocking Ferrero failed to defend his title, but it is surprising his Roland Garros run ended at the hands of Andreev, a man who had never won a Grand Slam match prior to his 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 opening-round victory over Jan Vacek and who entered this encounter with exactly three career clay-court victories.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard, who had advanced to at least the final four in all four of his prior Paris appearances, could not summon the form he sustained in registering a 24-3 Roland Garros record prior to today.

Persistently pouncing on shallow serves, Andreev converted seven of his 13 break-point opportunities and supplied the sort of pressure that saw Ferrero win less than half of both his first-serve (49 percent) and second-serve (47 percent) points. In his run to the 2003 tournament title, Ferrero patiently painted the corners with skillful strokes, but today he struggled to stay inside the lines with his shots, committing 41 unforced errors and producing just 14 winners.

A year ago, Andreev was toiling in tennis’ minor leagues, playing the Turin Challenger, where he went down in the opening round, 6-3, 6-4, to Daniele Bracciali. Since that loss, Andreev rocketed up the rankings, rising from a year-end rank of No. 286 in 2002 to No. 90 by the end of 2003. The only players to have made bigger leaps into the top 100 during that period were Frenchman Thierry Ascione, who leapt 455 places from No. 544 to No. 89, and Dmitry Tursunov, who rose 233 places from No. 331 to No. 98. Andreev is the only one of these three players who won in the first round at 2004 Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old Moscow native’s Grand Slam history was hardly memorable until today’s unforgettable upset.

Dejected Ferrero knocked out in second round

kat — Fri, 28 May 2004 05:03:24 +0000

from the official Roland Garros website by Araz Gulekjian
27 May 2004

Young Russian standout Igor Andreev played like there was no tomorrow on Thursday to send fourth-seeded defending champion Juan-Carlos Ferrero home.

The 20-year-old Russian put out a brilliant performance and fired 37 winners to overpower the 24-year-old Spaniard 6-4 6-2 6-3 in just over two hours.

“It’s unbelievable,” Andreev said.

“All your dreams become true. The guy had won last year and he was No1. I just forgot about all those things and focused on my game,” added the Russian, who was playing in his first Roland Garros after making his Grand Slam debut in Australia this January.

Ferrero, still nursing bruised ribs he sustained in a fall on May 8 while practising in Spain, congratulated his opponent but vowed to set the record straight.

“He played well. He was motivated to win. But I would have beaten him and won the match had I been fit,” Ferrero said.
The young Russian dictated play with his explosive forehand – his signature shot – and wowed Ferrero with a wondrous display of heavy-hitting, which completely unsettled the Spaniard.

Far from overwhelmed by the enormity of playing on Court Philippe Chatrier, the 77-ranked Russian consistently pounded winners at will as Ferrero misfired and misjudged his drop shots.

Both players held stubbornly onto their deliveries. The Russian squandered four break point opportunities in the eighth game but prevailed two games later, breaking his opponent’s serve for the first time on a clean crosscourt backhand winner to secure the set.

Ferrero stayed in the match but blew four golden break point opportunities at 2-2 in the second set as Andreev fought his way out of trouble and immediately broke a dejected Ferrero two more times to take an insurmountable two sets to love lead.

The third set was peppered with breaks of serve. Andreev clearly felt the pressure but overcame his nerves to score the biggest win of his life.

Ferrero, who needed the help of injections in his first round match to ease the pain of his bruised ribs, maintained his decision to enter the tournament for the fifth straight time was the right one.

“I was feeling well in my first match and today it was something else. But it was the right decision.”

The Spaniard will definitely take a few weeks effective immediately.

“I don’t think I can do anything else,” admitted Ferrero, who dropped to 24 wins and four losses on the Parisian ‘red dirt’.

“I’m going to stop until Monday and after that I’ll see if I could overcome problems and difficulties to train for two weeks and be fit again.”

Ferrero overcomes injury concerns to ease past Haas

kat — Wed, 26 May 2004 05:15:46 +0000

from Reuters
25 May 2004

PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) – Defending French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, doubtful before the tournament with a rib injury, beat German Tommy Haas 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 to ease into the second round on Tuesday.

The Spaniard, seeded fourth, only made a last-minute decision to play but recovered from an erratic start to seal victory in two hours and 46 minutes.

Two years ago, Ferrero was also on the verge of retiring because of an ankle problem and went on to reach the final.

He faced a tricky opening match against Haas, ranked number two in the world in 2002, the year he reached the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Ferrero conquers Haas and pain

kat — Wed, 26 May 2004 05:10:58 +0000

by Araz Gulekjian
25 May 2004

Embattled defending champion Juan-Carlos Ferrero (No4) needed the help of painkillers to withstand a stiff challenge from Germany’s Tommy Haas and move into the second round.

The courageous Spaniard, who has been nursing a rib injury for weeks, recovered from a set down to oust Haas 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2.

“A half an hour before the match, I took some painkillers. I’m just starting to feel the pain again now,” said Ferrero, who has never fared worse than the semi finals in four previous trips here.

The 24-year-old was clearly hampered by the injury though, uncommonly inconsistent and never able to deploy his explosive clay-court game.
Haas, who was competing in his first Roland Garros after being sidelined throughout the 2003 season with a right shoulder injury, broke once in the seventh game to earn the first set.

But Ferrero began to find his range in the second and began to claw his way back into the match.

The titleholder then grew in confidence and broke down the resistance of his opponent in the next two sets to secure victory.

“I started to feel better and better in the second set. Physically, I felt tired in the third set but I was trying not to think about it.”

Ferrero said his injury had no impact on his ground strokes and that it only affected his delivery.

“The backhand and forehand were perfect. It’s only during the serve I felt the pain,” said Ferrero, who only took the decision to participate after practice on Monday.

“There was no risk,” the Spaniard admitted. “Two years ago, I took some risk with my ankle, but this time there was no risk. That’s why I took a decision to play.”

The former world number one has missed a month of the season with chickenpox, and lost in the first round as defending champion at Monte Carlo, before bruising his ribs in a fall on 8 May while practising in Spain.

With only five wins on clay – and two losses – his 2004 record pales in comparison to his 21-2 win-loss ratio last year.

Asked about his chances to repeat, Ferrero responded cautiously: “I have to go day by day. We will see how I feel in two days.”

The fourth seed is now slated to face Russian Igor Andreev, an easy victor over Czech Jan Vacek 6-3 6-1 6-4.

Achy Ferrero may pull out

kat — Tue, 25 May 2004 05:21:41 +0000

from sun-sentinel.com by Charles Bricker
24 May 2004

PARIS: Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero had just gotten back from Spain’s royal wedding and now, after another painful training session Sunday, he sounded as if he was headed for a wake.

Looking despondent and sounding pessimistic, Ferrero admitted that he is still in pain from a rib injury that felled him three weeks ago and that he is less than 50-50 to go on court for his opening match Tuesday against Tommy Haas, the former world No. 2.

“I think I have more possibilities to not play, but I don’t know yet for sure. Tomorrow, I will know,” said Ferrero, who raced through surprise finalist Martin Verkerk a year ago to win the 2003 French.

If he withdraws, it will send a fourth lucky loser, Hyung-Taik Lee of South Korea, into the main draw to play Haas, who also is not in the best of health. Haas, the German star who lives in Sarasota, is trying to get rid of chest congestion brought on by a viral infection two weeks ago in Hamburg.

A Ferrero withdrawal also will put American Robert Kendrick, who lives part time on Sanibel Island, one spot away from becoming the fifth lucky loser.
Ferrero was on court early to test the injury and he knew immediately what he suspected all along — that he is nowhere near pain-free. Before the hour was up, he slammed his racket to the clay in anger, packed his bag and walked off.

He had fallen on his racket May 8 while practicing in Spain and bruised the ribs. “Any movement I do I have pain there,” he said.

If he pulls out, it will be the first time since 1991, when Andres Gomez did not play, that a defending men’s champion failed to defend.

This has been a horrific year for Ferrero, who had chicken pox early in the season, followed by the rib injury and a viral infection. “Nothing is going right. But last year I play unbelievable tennis the whole year. This year is … pretty different. I couldn’t play the Masters Series and Rome, one of the tournaments I like to play. And here I am in the same way again.”

He plans to take a painkilling injection before practice today and give it one final test.

Two years ago, Ferrero reached the final, where he lost to Albert Costa, playing on a sprained ankle. “But I was winning a lot of important matches. I was in the final, you know. So this year, why not? If I can do the same, it will be perfect. But I don’t know yet.”

Because he strokes the ball with a classic body turn instead of an open stance, every stroke produces pain from the injured rib cartilage, including his serve.

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 Suffering From Wrist, Rib Injuries

kat — Sat, 22 May 2004 05:42:20 +0000

from Tennis Week by Richard Pagliaro
21 May 2004

Defending Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero faces a tough first-round opponent in Tommy Haas, but reaching the opening round may be even tougher. The fourth-ranked Spaniard is suffering from wrist and rib injuries that could hamper his hopes of defending his Roland Garros championship.

The season’s second Grand Slam begins on Monday and Ferrero’s injuries prevented him from practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday though he did participate in a light practice yesterday.

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 last month.

Ferrero’s coach, Antonio Martinez Cascales, said he was “optimistic” Ferrero will play Roland Garros though his injuries — and lack of recent match play — is clearly a concern.