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Juan last hurrah as curtain falls on open

kat — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 11:27:02 +0000

Taken from South China Morning Post – by Alvin Sallay
30 September 2002

Juan Carlos Ferrero will go down in Hong Kong history as the last man standing at the Salem Open. The young Spanish master was numero uno as the curtain sadly came down on the SAR’s 13 year affair with professional tennis at Victoria Park last night.

Ferrero, 22, defeated countryan Carlos Moya to win the 2002 title 6-3 1-6 7-6(7-4) in two hours of baseline tennis, stretched out by long rallies. The crowd called out for more, or was it Mo-ya? but Ferrero was not to be denied his date with destiny.
It will be a date Hong Kong fans will mostly likely not forget. For this is probably the last time men’s professional tennis will be played here under competitive circumstances. The news that Hong Kong will lose out to Beijing next year was a dampener on what should have been a festive last year. “I will miss Hong Kong. It is a spectacular city and the fans are very nice here,” said Ferrero when asked for his reaction to the move.

Moya did not even know about the impending move. “Is it happening?” he asked. Tournament director Lincoln Venancio said it was. “It is a shame. I wanted to bring my parents here next year. When I tell them they will be sad. It is also sad for me. I would have loved to be the last winner in Hong Kong.” said Moya in the post-match interview. That accolade belongs to Ferrero which survived a mid-match crisis, before regrouping smartly and holding hsi nerve at hte crucial tie-break stage. After taking the first set with two service breaks, in the seventh and 10th games, second seed Ferrero suddenly lost his rhythm completely as Moya, the tournament’s third seed came back strongly. He broke Ferrero three times in the second set to take the match to a decider.

“I lost my serve in the second set. I couldn’t get my first sreve working and he played solidly. At the start of the third set, I told myself this was a final and that I needed to fight back. I’m happy I did it,” said Ferrero.

The world number six traded service breaks early in the deciding set with Moya. THe tension built as both players subsequently held service to take the match into the tie-break. Ferrero had an early mini-break, immediately imposing his presence on Moya’s first service to take a 1-0 lead. But Moya made amends quickly as Ferrero dropped one of his next two servies to put the struggle back on equal terms.

The score crept to 4-3 on serve before Moya made a poor drop shot allowing Ferrero, quick as a Ferrari, to pounce on it and smash it away to go 5-3 ahead. Moya kept his next serve, 5-4, but the advantage was now with Ferrero. He won the next point after Moya hit a backhand down the line wide. Then on championship point, Ferrero sent a stunning ace right down the centre line to emerge a delighted winner.

“It was really important for me to win here. I hope this victory will tell the Spanish people back home that we are not just clay court players. The fact that Carlos and I were in the final proves that we can play on hard courts too. This victory will prove that I can win on it too.” said Ferrero.

Moya, who had won four titles previously this year, was dejected. “I gave it my best shot. I lost my momentum in the third set by playing some stupid points. But we both deserved to win, but in tennis there is only one winner,” said the 26 year old Moya.

The victory pushes Ferrero up the ladder in the ATP Champions Race. He arrived in Hong Kong tied with Moya and fellow countryman Alberto Costa in fifth place. Now apart from the winner’s purse of US$51,500, Ferrero also won 35 ATP points to move into fourth position and displace Briton Tim Henman.

“Winning here was only good for my Masters Cup hopes but also for my confidence. All the rest of my tournaments this year are on hard courts and this will be good for my spirits,” said Ferrero.

The top eight players in the Champions Race will play in the lucrative season-ending event in Shanghai in November. Ferrero, however, is looking beyond that. “My goal next year is to start winning some Grand Slams. I’m working hard to become the number one.”

Winning on hard court, whicha few years ago was a surface alien to the clay court gods from Spain, will be a huge boost for the last man standing in Hong Kong.

Second Masters Title for Rapidly Improving Ferrero

kat — Sun, 21 Apr 2002 21:02:20 +0000

By Chris Bowers-Tennis Radio Network
Taken from the Official TMS Monte Carlo website
21 April 2002

Carlos Moya had warned on Saturday night that when Juan Carlos Ferrero gets hot on clay he’s hard to beat, and Ferrero really turned on the heat to win the first all-Spanish final at the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo and pick up his second Masters shield.

In a superb display of precision hitting, Ferrero beat Moya 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to add Monte Carlo to the title he won in Rome last year. It’s his sixth ATP title in total, but more than that it denotes a powerful statement that the man from Valencia province is back in business.

Coming into this tournament Ferrero was desperately short of confidence. He’d had a poor hardcourt season and lost in the second round of his one claycourt tournament last week in Estoril.

But then he came back from match point down in the second round against his compatriot Felix Mantilla, won on a final set tiebreak, and he was back on track. He dropped just one more set after that, and while the outcome of the final was influenced in part by a worsening groin strain Moya had been carrying since his 6-1, 7-5 win over Alex Corretja, it’s hard to see who would have beaten Ferrero in this form.

The first set was very even, with Moya having the early break points. Ferrero’s first didn’t come until the 12th game, but then it was set point, and with Moya taking the pace off his hitherto dangerous groundstrokes, Ferrero seized his opportunity to take the first set.

As Moya threw down his racket in disgust, it seemed to signal the end of his chances, and when he was broken to love in the fourth game of the second set Ferrero was in the driving seat.

Moya needed treatment on his groin strain at the start of the third set, and although he went a break down, he went for broke and broke straight back. The strategy worked well until the ninth game, when Ferrero used every available angle to move Moya around the court, and broke to love. Moments later he served out the victory to love, finishing by hitting an unreturnable second serve.

“I think I played a perfect game,” said Ferrero. “I did everything that I wanted to do, so I’m really happy.”

Moya, who thanked the medical services for getting him fit to play, said he might not have won even if he had been fit. “Ferrero has beaten me the last five times, and four of them I was 100 per cent, but really I wanted to cry on court because I have been looking forward to playing in a big final and there I was with an injury. But I’m happy with my week, and I hope Monte Carlo will be the start of another good run for me.”

In the past nine years, four players have used success in Monte Carlo as a springboard to winning the French Open, including Moya in 1998. Ferrero has lost in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in the past two years, but with Gustavo Kuerten still not back on court after hip surgery (he’s due back in Mallorca in a week’s time), Ferrero looks well placed to become the fifth Monte Carlo champion in 10 years to triumph in Paris.

Fittingly, the first Masters Series doubles tournament to feature Match Tie-breaks was decided on one. Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman defended their title by beating Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Both Woodbridge and Bjorkman are outspoken critics of the Match Tiebreak system, but they picked up their fifth title together by winning three successive matches on the first-to-ten-points formula.

Ferrero Captures Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo Title

kat — Sun, 21 Apr 2002 20:59:10 +0000

Taken from the Official TMS Monte Carlo website
21 April 2002

Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero claimed his first Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo title with a straight sets victory against fellow countryman Carlos Moya to win the first all-Spanish final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

Ferrero, the No. 2 seed, came through 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours to claim his second career Tennis Masters Series shield following his victory in Rome last year.

“It’s a very important victory for me,” said Ferrero, who moves up to 13th position in the ATP Champions Race 2002. “It gives me a lot of confidence in myself. The best players in the world were here.”

It was an impressive victory for Ferrero, who arrived in Monte Carlo lacking match fitness after suffering from a stress fracture in his left foot. But after recording a first round win over Albert Portas, saving a match point in his victory over Felix Mantilla in the second and consecutive wins against Marcelo Rios, Tommy Haas and Sebastien Grosjean to reach the final, Ferrero was back to his best.

“I’m very pleased with the level of tennis I have shown all week,” said Ferrero. “If I can win here, there’s no reason why I cannot do well at Roland Garros.”

The first set went with serve and was seemingly heading for a tie-break until Ferrero forged an opening in the 12th game. A deep shot to Moya’s backhand on the first break point of the match was enough to clinch the set and Ferrero was on his way to winning his fifth consecutive match against Moya in six meetings.

While their last battle in the final in Barcelona 12 months ago went five sets, Ferrero was not about to let this one slip from his grasp. Breaking the 1998 champion to love in the fourth game of the second set, Ferrero made no mistake on his own delivery to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Winning the majority of the rallies from the baseline, Ferrero was full of confidence, holding serve to love to take a two-set lead before breaking Moya in the opening game of the third. Although Moya broke back immediately, Ferrero stepped up a gear in the ninth game of the set to break serve for the fourth time in the match, and with a love service game of his own, Ferrero was the new champion.

For Moya, it was not quite the ending he was looking for after knocking out top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, and then defeating Britain’s surprise semifinalist Tim Henman late on Saturday evening.

“I’m very happy with the way I’ve been playing, but I’m disappointed today,” said Moya, who moved to eighth position in the ATP Champions Race 2002. “You never want to lose a final of a Masters Series event, but I’ve beaten some great players this week. Juan Carlos deserved to win today – he’s a great player.”

With the victory, Ferrero became the first Spanish winner in Monte Carlo since Moya in 1998.

Ferrero captures 1st career Tennis Masters Series Title in Rome

kat — Tue, 15 May 2001 13:39:02 +0000

Taken from the Official ATP Tour website
15 May 2001

No. 8 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero came from behind to beat top-seed and the world’s top clay court player Gustavo Kuerten 3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, to capture his biggest career title at the Tennis Masters Series Roma.

The 3 hour, 4 minute battle might be an early championship preview of what to expect at Roland Garros next month. Kuerten came into the final with a 24-1 record on clay this season while Ferrero was 16-1. The two played in the semifinals at Roland Garros last year and the Brazilian prevailed in five sets.

The 21-year-old earned his ATP-best fourth title of the season and climbed to 2nd in the ATP Champions Race while becoming the fourth Spanish winner in Rome. He joins countrymen Manuel Orantes in 1972, Emilio Sanchez in 1991 and Alex Corretja in 1997 to capture the prestigious clay court title. The five-set final was the first in Rome since 1989 when Alberto Mancini defeated Andre Agassi.

Ferrero entered Rome off his five-set title victory over countryman Carlos Moya in Barcelona and he continued his winning ways by not losing a set en route to the final.

“Barcelona gave me a lot of confidence because I played with the Spanish players, some very strong players,” said Ferrero, who takes his career-best 11-match winning streak into Hamburg.

“And this is the first time I won a Masters Series (title), and I am really very happy about that. But I think this tournament is giving me more confidence going to Roland Garros.”

Kuerten, who was also attempting to win his fourth ATP title of the season, finished runner-up in Rome for the second straight year. He did win the title in Rome two years ago.

“It was a great week, again. I beat some great players to get to the final,” said Kuerten, who defeated Michael Chang, No. 15 seed Franco Squillari, No. 10 Alex Corretja and unseeded Andreas Vinciguerra without dropping a set. “I played well enough maybe to win. I am still in good shape and I am playing great tennis, and besides that, I am enjoying a lot of things I am doing on the court.”

During the week, defending champion Magnus Norman lost in the first round to Italian wild card Vincenzo Santopadre and another local player, 21-year-old Federico Luzzi posted impressive wins over No. 11 seed Arnaud Clement and TMS Monte Carlo finalist Hicham Arazi en route to the Round of 16. Pete Sampras made his 2001 clay court debut and lost in the first round to eventual quarterfinalist Harel Levy.

King Juan Carlos Reigns in Spain

kat — Mon, 30 Apr 2001 13:35:35 +0000

Taken from the Official ATP Tour website
30 April 2001

New Balls Please star Juan Carlos Ferrero captured his third title of the ATP season with a marathon five-set win against fellow countryman Carlos Moya in Barcelona.

Ferrero, who saved two match points in his first round win against Adrian Voinea, won the Open Seat Godo 2001 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory in a match that lasted 4 hours, 9 minutes in front of a capacity crowd at the Real Club de Tenis.

“I will remember this final for many years, and I am sure the people will remember it as well,” said Ferrero, who moves to fourth position in the ATP Champions Race 2001. “I’ve never played such a tough final in my career before.”

Ferrero, who lost to Marat Safin in last year’s Barcelona final, now joins Race leader Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten with three titles this season following his tournament victories in Dubai and Estoril. Ferrero also became the ninth Spanish winner since the tournament began in 1953 and the first person since Thomas Muster in 1996 to win Estoril and Barcelona in the same year.

No clean sweep for Spaniards
But the fourth all-Spanish final could have been a different story with Moya, four-times a losing semifinalist, having two points for double break of serve and a 4-1 final set lead.

“When I was down 3-1 and 15-40 on my serve, somewhere I found the strength to come back and win,” said Ferrero. “That’s probably because I wanted to win so badly here-I love to play in Barcelona.”

Moya, who defeated Thomas Enqvist for the first time in five meetings to reach the final, said: “It was a very tough match and it could have gone either way. I had many opportunities to win but I did not take advantage of them.”

American second seeds Don Johnson and Jared Palmer ensured the Spaniards didn’t make a clean sweep of the singles and doubles titles with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Tommy Robredo and Fernando Vicente.

It was the duo’s second title as a team following their win in Scottsdale in March, which was their first tournament together. Palmer has now won 17 career ATP doubles titles, while Johnson is one behind on 16. Wild cards Robredo and Vicente were playing together for the first time.

Ferrero Captures Estoril Crown

kat — Mon, 16 Apr 2001 13:31:26 +0000

Taken from the Official Estoril Open website
16 April 2001

In an all-Spanish shootout, top seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero battled past compatriot qualifier Felix Mantilla 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 to win the Estoril Open.

“I came here with a goal to win this tournament, I did it and I’m very happy. Physically it was a terrible match. He (Mantilla) is playing so good and he is going to rise to the top again.” Ferrero said after the match.

“Losing 3-1 in the third set it was a bit tough. Then I started playing quite good and my mind was quite fresh. I was extremely relieved and happy.” he added.

With the victory, the 21-year-old New Balls Please campaign star Ferrero, who hadn’t dropped a set going into the Estoril final, claimed his third-career title, and second of the year, after taking the crown at the Dubai Tennis Championships in March.

Snapping Mantilla’s 17 match winning streak, which has spanned two straight titles at Espinho and Barletta on the challenger circuit, Ferrero broke the Spaniard twice in the decider to steal the victory.

“I’m dead now. Ferrero is one of the three or four best players on clay and it was very tough. I wasn’t used to losing (after so many wins) and it felt strange, but this was his day.” Mantilla said afterwards.

Denying his compatriot of becoming the first qualifier to win the Estoril Open, Ferrero earned 40 ATP Champions Race points and a total prize money of US $84,000.

Despite the loss, Mantilla, who is finally returning to the form that made him a 1998 Roland Garros semifinalist after an injury-plagued year 2000 campaign, collects 28 Champions Race points and a total of US $49,000.

In the doubles final qualifiers Radek Stepanek and Michal Tabara defeated topseeded Nenad Zimonjic and Donald Johnson 6-4, 6-2.

Said Stepanek: “We saved three match points in the qualifying rounds. We were 3-5, 0-40 down in the first round of qualifying and we won the title. I can only laugh. Michal only deceided to play doubles with me one minute before the deadline. We had a great week.”

Ferrero wins first 2001 title

kat — Mon, 05 Mar 2001 13:24:39 +0000

Taken from the Official ATP Tour website
5 March 2001

Juan Carlos Ferrero captured the second ATP title of his career when his top seeded opponent Marat Safin was forced to retire with a back injury 52 minutes into the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Ferrero, the seventh seed from Spain, was leading 6-2, 3-1 in the battle of the New Balls Please stars when Safin decided he could no longer continue. The 21-year-old Russian incurred the injury during his semifinal win over Thomas Johansson.

“It is difficult for [Marat] to play at a good level if he’s injured,” said Ferrero, who moves to 17th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001. “I think it is better for him to stop.”

Ferrero, who defeated Jonas Bjorkman, Jiri Novak, Magnus Norman and saved two match points against Dominik Hrbaty to reach his first final of the year, became the second Spaniard to win in Dubai following Alex Corretja’s title in 1998.

The 21-year-old from Onteniente finished the ATP Champions Race 2000 at No. 12, and was part of the winning Spanish Davis Cup team last December. It was his first title since winning in Mallorca in 1999, and he was a finalist in Dubai and Barcelona last year.

Safin: “Sorry for the crowd.”

For Safin, it was a disappointing end to what had been a good week for the Russian. “I’m really sorry for the crowd who paid for the ticket and watched only half a match,” said Safin. “I definitely couldn’t play 100 percent…If you cannot serve and volley, you just have to play from the baseline and hold your serve.”

Safin, who won seven titles in 2000 including the US Open and the Tennis Masters Series events in Toronto and Paris, reached his first final of the year with victories over David Prinosil, Julien Boutter, Andrei Medvedev and Johansson. He stands in 12th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001.