Posts Tagged ‘Valencia’

The Spaniard faces Christophe Rochus in the Valencia final
from ATP Tennis
3 May 2003
Top seed and world No. 3, Juan Carlos Ferrero advanced to the first final of the CAM Open Comunidad Valenciana, improving his clay record to 16-1. In Saturday’s second semifinal, Ferrero defeated Brazil’s Flavio Saretta 7-6(3), 6-2 on route to his third ATP final of the year. The Spaniard began the European clay court season by claiming the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo title. The following week, Ferrero continued his clay court dominance before losing to Marat Safin in the semifinals of the Open Seat Godo in Barcelona. Ferrero is only one match away from claiming his eighth career title. In the final, he meets Belgium’s Christophe Rochus.
Advancing to his first ATP career final, Rochus ended the chance of an all Valencian final by defeating Fernando Vicente 6-3, 6-2 in the first semifinal. Prior to Valencia, Rochus had lost his confidence and suffered first or second round defeats in every event he had played in 2003. His career best result came in Palermo 2000, where the Belgian lost to his brother, Olivier Rochus.
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from ATP Insider
1 May 2003

->> – BURNING RUBBER: the CAM Open Comunidad in Valencia, top seed JUAN CARLOS FERRERO joined Spanish golfing star SERGIO GARCIA at the Circuito Ricardo Tornos, Valencia’s famous racing track which played host to the World Superbike Championship in March 2003.

The Valencian sports stars met at the circuit – which is located in Cheste about 20 kilometres from Valencia Capital – to race official cars of the tournament up to speeds of 190 kph on the twisty circuit. Joining them were MARKUS HIPFL, SARGIS SARGSIAN and wild card GUILLERMO GARCIA-LOPEZ, along with tournament director MIGUEL MAESO and Ferrero’s coach ANTONIO MARTINEZ.

“One of my greatest passions apart from tennis is speed,” said Ferrero. “Normally, I can’t find the time to get to a race track. It was a great experience to go out there and test the cars and the circuit. Pushing myself and driving at extreme speeds actually relaxes me on a tennis court.” Garcia, currently at No. 11 in golf’s official world rankings, said: “I love racing cars and I am a big tennis fan. Combining the two things today was something special.” Hipfl added: “You don’t realise when you are in the official cars travelling to and from the club, but they are very fast. There were a lot of bends on the circuit, but we still managed to reach 180-190 kmh on the short straights. We were really pushing the cars to the limit.” After burning rubber on the track, they entered the circuit’s clubhouse to sample the famous Valencian dish, seafood Paella.

From ATP Tennis
21 April 2003

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 19-year-old wild card Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the CAM Open Comunidad Valenciana on Tuesday. Ferrero has been a terror on the clay this season, winning the title at the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo and reaching the semifinals last week in Barcelona. The Spaniard now stands in the fourth position of the ATP Champions Race, and is looking for a strong run in Valencia this week to challenge for the No. 3 spot, held by Rainer Schuettler.

What the Players Said…
Ferrero: “It wasn’t a good match because it is difficult to play against someone who you practice with so often.”

“I am taking a risk with my clay court schedule. It is pretty heavy from now up until Roland Garros. I am scheduled to have one week off before Paris. Playing here is not as tiring as competing abroad. I wanted to see this tournament happen and now that we have the event, I want to see it grow.”