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

Horna Upsets Top Seed Ferrero

kat — Mon, 04 Aug 2003 06:21:14 +0000

Guillermo Coria recorded another straight-sets victory
from the official ATP website
3 August 2003

A potential showdown between the two hottest clay court players on the circuit this year, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Guillermo Coria, was denied by Luis Horna of Peru. Ferrero came into the match with a 32-3 record on clay, before Horna restored the Spaniard to a more human status with his 6-1, 7-6 (1) victory. The 22-year-old Peruvian No. 1 had just upset No. 7 seed Dominik Hrbaty to reach the quarterfinals. Horna also reached the semifinals in Amersfoort two weeks ago as well as the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
Third seed Guillermo Coria continued his sensational form, defeating No. 8 seed France’s Olivier Mutis 6-3, 6-4 to extend his win streak to 13. The 21-year-old Argentine, who has won the last 28 sets he has played, is seeking his third consecutive title, having won back-to-back championships in Stuttgart and Kitzbühel wthout dropping a set. Coria, currently in third position in the ATP Champions Race 2003, is now in the lead for the most match wins on clay this season (36).

David Ferrer continued his strong play and guaranteed a Spaniard in the final when he defeated Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra 6-1, 6-2. He’s coming off a quarterfinal performance in Umag, and he upset No. 4 seed David Nalbandian of Argentina in the second round here. This is his first semifinal appearance at an ATP event this year.

He will face Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who won the all-Spanish battle against Galo Blanco 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-0 to advance to his first ATP semifinal. Hidalgo took advantage of the hot conditions and his conditioning to defeat Blanco easily in the third after two close first sets.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Ferrer: “I like playing this clay court swing. I produce some of my best results during these tournaments. Today, I played very solidly and really made very few errors. The score line 6-1, 6-2 doesn’t reflect how hard we were fighting out there. He had break points on my serve and many games went to deuce.”

“I’m going to play the winner between Ramirez Hidalgo and Blanco. Both have been playing well and have very similar games. It doesn’t matter which one I meet in the semifinals. It is a good feeling to know that at least one Spaniard is guaranteed to be in the final.”

Vinciguerra: “I didn’t play well today. David (Ferrer) played a good match, but I know I can play better. If we meet again, I think it will be a different match. Tomorrow is always another day.”

Ramirez Hidalgo: “We started off very equal. It was a tough first set. I had set point at 7-6 in the tie-break, but failed to convert it and the set was his.”

“The conditions out there were very hot and physically demanding, but I felt solid and broke his serve early in the second set and held that advantage. By the third set, I could tell Galo was feeling tired. His movement around the court wasn’t as good. I began to play really well and made very few unforced errors.”

“This is the first time I reached the semifinals of an ATP event. Two weeks ago, at the Dutch Open, I made my first quarterfinals appearance. It was the first time I had direct entry into an ATP event. After playing Umag, I decided that I wasn’t going to play the qualifying rounds in Sopot so I went home, only to get a phone call from the ATP to tell me that I had gained direct entry into the Idea Prokom Open. It is funny how things work out. I have produced the best results of my career this week.”

“I am 25 years old. I started picking up points really late. I wasn’t playing many futures or satellite tournaments. I am feeling really good right now. Things have really fallen into place and I am happy where my tennis is going right now.”

Blanco: “I’ve had more satisfying results than this week. I wasn’t able to practise for two weeks before competing here as I had a back injury. Yesterday I had a very long and hard match against Albert Portas so I was feeling very tired today.”

Ferrero: “I played a good player today. He won his first two matches easily. I could have done more in the first set and I had chances to break him in the second set. A lot of games went to 30-30. I should have won the tie-break and then I felt I would have won the match because I was playing better and better.”

“I didn’t give my best tennis in today’s match. I had a bad day. I tried to give me best. Nothing specific was missing, but I couldn’t show the best tennis that I am capable of. Horna just played better. He was taking risks. All players playing a Top 10 player try their best as I used to against Agassi and Sampras. He had so much incentive today.”

“You can’t play the same level at each tournament. You are human, that’s life. It is hard to get to No.1 and it is difficult to stay there. You have to win a lot of matches and tournaments. Everyone is trying to beat you and try to take the No. 1 position.”

Horna: “I started the match off much better than Ferrero today. My tactics and game plan were really paying off. My aim was to play aggressively and make him run a lot. I was taking a lot of chances. In the second set, it came down to a couple of lucky points and that made the difference.”

“I was feeling good out there. I wasn’t thinking, ‘If I don’t win the match in two sets, I won’t have a chance in the third’. I was prepared to go all the way, but I am very happy to have won in straight sets. We are not machines, people get tired.”

“My forehand and my movement are the best and most important elements of my game. I also have a good serve and perhaps I have logged the fastest served this week with at 212 kilometres per hour. My first serve percentage is normally very high, but I knew I had to take risks and go for aces in today’s match (7 aces).”

“I am in perfect shape right now. I have just beaten the No. 1 player on clay right now. Ferrero won Roland Garros and is leading the ATP Champions Race. I am extremely motivated to play Coria in the semifinals tomorrow. He’s the No. 2 player on clay, or even the No. 1 now, I don’t know. Coria is now riding on a 13 match winning streak and has just won two important ATP titles. He’s going to be playing with a lot of confidence. I don’t think he has lost a set in a long time.”

“We have played against each other three or four times and I have always lost. I don’t think he will be losing any sleep over tomorrow’s match, he’s very tired!”

“My goal is to be the best. I want to be the best tennis player in the world. I lost a couple of years of my professional career by messing around. Since becoming a father, everything has changed. My focus and perspective on my life and career have totally changed. I have a great team working with me right now: my coach Gabriel Markus and my fitness trainer Heli Paredes. Together, we are training extremely hard.”

Coria: “I already know that I will meet Luis Horna in the semifinals. I was surprised by the result of his match against Ferrero. I must admit, he is in great form. The possibility of meeting Ferrero in the semifinals was a match much anticipated by all, but it there are still many more tournaments left in the season, so maybe we will have the chance to play against each soon.”

“In today’s professional game, it is possible to lose against any opponent, but I hope I am going to stay until the end of the tournament and to win the title.”

“My parents named me Guillermo after Guillermo Vilas. He’s a great player and in my opinion he made Argentinean tennis what it is now. We have many Argentine players who are trying to follow his footsteps, competing and doing very well at tournaments.”

“It is true that since I was a child I always admired Agassi. I managed to beat him once, but I think his career is still very strong and far from over.”

Portas Produces Goods Against Moya (Sopot news)

kat — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 06:37:16 +0000

Second seed Carlos Moya is knocked out in the first round by countryman Albert Portas, but top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero moves through in Sopot.
from the official ATP website
31 July 2003

Second seed Carlos Moya was knocked out in the first round of the Idea Prokom Open after losing to fellow Spaniard Albert Portas in a three-set battle in Sopot. Portas defeated the in-form Moya 7-6(4) 6-7(6), 7-5 to book his place in the second round against countryman Galo Blanco.
Moya, a three-time winner on the ATP circuit this year, was looking to add the Sopot crown to his Umag title last week. Moya’s 35-9 record on clay going into the match was the best on the circuit this year, but Portas, who reached the final in Sopot in 2001 and who won the first of their three previous meetings at Roland Garros in 1997, coped better with the windy conditions.

After coming back from 5-2 down in the second set, Moya saved three match points and then led 4-1 in the final set before Portas wrapped up an impressive victory on his sixth match point.

There was less trouble for top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, the ATP Champions Race 2003 leader who recorded a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Polish wild card Bartlomiej Dabrowski to move through to the second round and continue his push towards the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.

Ferrero, the Roland Garros champion who has a 31-3 record on clay this year (46-9 overall) as well as titles at the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo and Valencia, will now meet Czech qualifier Frantisek Cermak for a place in the quarterfinals. Cermak recorded a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Polish qualifier Filip Urban.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Filippo Volandri, who reached the final in Umag last week before losing to Moya, also went out in Sopot after suffering a 6-4, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Argentine Mariano Puerta.

In second round action, Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra upset No. 6 seed David Sanchez to move through to the quarterfinals at an ATP tournament for the second time this year (Doha). The Swede, who reached the third round at the Australian Open, came through 6-3, 6-4 and will now meet Spanish star David Ferrer, who upset No. 4 seed David Nalbandian 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach his third quarterfinal of the year (Auckland, Umag).

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Portas: “I think it was a tough match. I failed to convert three match points in the second set and another two in the final set before I managed to win the match. He was playing too well at the end of the second set and took a 4-1 lead in the third set. I started playing a lot better to pull off the win finally. It’s a good feeling to beat a player of Moya’s caliber. He’s a very good player and he has been in great form recently.

“In the next round, I will play Galo Blanco. He had a great match today, conceding just one game. He’s going to be feeling good here. Perhaps he is not a big a name like Moya, but he is still a very good player and I will have to play as well as I did today if I am going to win the match. The fact that I beat Moya today probably makes me the favorite, but that is not the key. It’s a different match and against a different opponent.”

Moya: “It was a close match. I had chances in first set but didn’t take them. He played the important points well and took a lead of 7-6 5-2. I then picked up my game and started turning things around by fighting back and winning the second set.

“I had some brilliant moments but there were points in the match were I lost my concentration. It is not easy to win a match at this level unless you are 100 percent focused on the court. Maybe if I was a little bit luckier, I would have won the match.

“With the rain over the last two days, I wasn’t able to practice enough and get a feel for the different conditions here. The balls and court are very good but different to Croatia, where I was playing last week. I could only hit for 15 minutes yesterday and 25 minutes this morning. That wasn’t enough unfortunately. Now I have some exciting tournaments ahead of me in Canada and the US. There should be some points to be won there in my race to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.”

Ferrero: “The court and the balls were very slow so it was difficult to play with a lot of spin on the ball. It wasn’t easy to win free points off my serve and I had to keep the ball a bit flat during the rallies.

“I didn’t know anything about my opponent before the match. I just came to the court to try and play my best tennis and see what sort of game he had. He has a good first serve and runs for all the points. He played a very good first set but his game was not holding together as well in the second.

“It has been a good year for me. I have made the quarterfinals or better in most of the tournaments that I have played. My goal this year is to be No. 1 in the world and play at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. I also want to win another Grand Slam.”

Vinciguerra: “I was mentally prepared to come out on court and play for a couple of hours. Spanish players tend to fight very hard and keep a lot of balls in play. It was good to finish the match in two sets today.”

Volandri: “I was very tired, suffering from pain in my back and arm. He hits the ball very hard, harder than me. I also found it difficult to adjust my game having played in Umag. The balls and courts are so different. I couldn’t find the balls or the court today.”

Ferrer: “Physically, I was feeling great. I was playing very solidly and with great rhythm. I started the third set really pumped up. I was playing really well and took a 5-0 lead. I sensed he began to relax by that stage and started to hit the ball really well. I was still playing with the same rhythm and focus and finally served the match out. I defended well and that was the key to the match. He was attacking but I kept on getting the ball back in play, allowing him to make mistakes.

“I like this clay court swing very much. I tend to log some good results during this part of the year. I reached the quarterfinals in Umag last week, a tournament where I played the final in 2002.

“My goal now is to play more consistently throughout the year. I started the year off badly so my goal now is to end the season ranked 80 or 90 in the world and work from there.”

Nalbandian: “I don’t think I played badly. Ferrer was just playing extremely well. I was attacking, but he was keeping the ball in play. He is very strong and very fast, which makes for a very good clay court player.

“I wasn’t very focused at the start of the match and he took his chances. I found that really tough. I was making some mistakes in the important points. In the first game of the third set, he started really well and broke my serve. From there he took a 5-0 lead and although I made it 5-3, it was impossible to recover.”