Ferrero steals limelight
Watching Juan Carlos Ferrero win the Madrid Masters and extend his lead at the top of the rankings on Sunday, it was hard to imagine that earlier in the season he’d been largely forgotten amidst the glamour of other stars, writes James Buddell.
After Roger Federer's Wimbledon triumph, broadsheets around the world were proclaiming the 22-year-old in the same light as the sorely missed Pete Sampras.
Then when 21-year-old Andy Roddick decided to win everything North American hard had to offer he became the flavour of the month.
Suddenly Ferrero, merely a winner of June's French Open, didn't have the charisma and game to highjack the column inches anymore.
But looking at the season the 23-year-old has had, it is he who has proved the most consistent.
In the Grand Slam arena he was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open (losing to Wayne Ferreira); winner at Roland Garros, he reached the fourth-round at Wimbledon (losing to Sebastien Grosjean) and was a finalist at Flushing.
He recently became the leader of men's tennis and with Sunday's win took charge of the Champions Race, on the back his fourth title of the year.
Not bad for a player considered by many to be a specialist on clay-courts. A title that is increasingly becoming paper-thin.
So what has changed for Ferrero and why does he differ from this year's other major luminaries?
Davis Cup may be the answer.
For Federer and Roddick the expectation of a nation and mass exposure at a young age has proved a burden and it has only been this season that the pair have matured enough to win big.
Switzerland have built their team around Federer ever since he won junior Wimbledon in 1998. And Roddick quickly became the United States' beacon with Andre Agassi and Sampras' reluctance to play.
Ferrero's induction to the Spanish team however, came in their triumphant 2000 campaign against Australia.
Surrounding the one-time "Chavalito" throughout his short career have been major winners and finalists Alex Corretja, Albert Costa and Carlos Moya.
He has taken onboard their advice and marvelled at their tactical experience. So after his disappointment in the 2002 French Open final, the question became: when will he win big?
Roddick is beginning to realise his potential too. Since pairing up with Brad Gilbert at Queen's Club in June, he has become a major threat and will hope to win straight off next season in Melbourne.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) have long since realised the potential rivalry of the trio, and with the addition of a resurgent Lleyton Hewitt they can create the kind of interest that made the sport in the 1990s boom.
So with three weeks to go before the Masters Cup in Houston - which you can watch live on Eurosport and follow on eurosport.com - Ferrero is convinced he can be the worthy leader of that new dawn.
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Thanks for the link Lady ^^ Nice to see JC finally getting some recognition!
Watching Juan Carlos Ferrero win the Madrid Masters and extend his lead at the top of the rankings on Sunday, it was hard to imagine that earlier in the season he’d been largely forgotten amidst the glamour of other stars, writes James Buddell.
After Roger Federer's Wimbledon triumph, broadsheets around the world were proclaiming the 22-year-old in the same light as the sorely missed Pete Sampras.
Then when 21-year-old Andy Roddick decided to win everything North American hard had to offer he became the flavour of the month.
Suddenly Ferrero, merely a winner of June's French Open, didn't have the charisma and game to highjack the column inches anymore.
But looking at the season the 23-year-old has had, it is he who has proved the most consistent.
In the Grand Slam arena he was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open (losing to Wayne Ferreira); winner at Roland Garros, he reached the fourth-round at Wimbledon (losing to Sebastien Grosjean) and was a finalist at Flushing.
He recently became the leader of men's tennis and with Sunday's win took charge of the Champions Race, on the back his fourth title of the year.
Not bad for a player considered by many to be a specialist on clay-courts. A title that is increasingly becoming paper-thin.
So what has changed for Ferrero and why does he differ from this year's other major luminaries?
Davis Cup may be the answer.
For Federer and Roddick the expectation of a nation and mass exposure at a young age has proved a burden and it has only been this season that the pair have matured enough to win big.
Switzerland have built their team around Federer ever since he won junior Wimbledon in 1998. And Roddick quickly became the United States' beacon with Andre Agassi and Sampras' reluctance to play.
Ferrero's induction to the Spanish team however, came in their triumphant 2000 campaign against Australia.
Surrounding the one-time "Chavalito" throughout his short career have been major winners and finalists Alex Corretja, Albert Costa and Carlos Moya.
He has taken onboard their advice and marvelled at their tactical experience. So after his disappointment in the 2002 French Open final, the question became: when will he win big?
Roddick is beginning to realise his potential too. Since pairing up with Brad Gilbert at Queen's Club in June, he has become a major threat and will hope to win straight off next season in Melbourne.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) have long since realised the potential rivalry of the trio, and with the addition of a resurgent Lleyton Hewitt they can create the kind of interest that made the sport in the 1990s boom.
So with three weeks to go before the Masters Cup in Houston - which you can watch live on Eurosport and follow on eurosport.com - Ferrero is convinced he can be the worthy leader of that new dawn.
-----------------
Thanks for the link Lady ^^ Nice to see JC finally getting some recognition!
