ARTICLE Where does a Spaniard practise on grass? - in Houston of course
If Barcelona is your starting point and Melbourne your destination, you can turn either left or right; east or west. Some airline or another will eventually get you Down Under.
But Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya had a specific reason for going west, and as they journeyed on across the Pacific after their week in Houston, they must have been wondering whether the Tennis Masters Cup had been worth it. The Spanish pair, who, presumably, will be spearheading Spain's challenge for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas against Australia in the final at Melbourne Park, played six round robin matches between them and lost all but one.
Both are experienced and professional enough to try and put that kind of disappointment behind them but, whichever way you look at it, the week in Space City did not exactly send their confidence into orbit.
"I have to forget about this tournament," said Fererro, looking as if it had been a very long year after his third consecutive loss in Houston. "For me it was a bad tournament. So now I have to practise on grass, maybe here for a few days, because there are grass courts at the Westside Tennis Club, and think about Australia."
Moya, having beaten Rainer Schuettler in his third and ultimately meaningless round robin match, was able to be a little more positive. Asked if Spain would take confidence from the fact that France upset Australia on a grass court inside the Rod Laver Arena in the 2001 Davis Cup Final, Moya replied: "It helps. We know we don't have the experience the French team have on grass. But they did it, and I don't consider them better than we are. I think we have a very strong team. But Australia have a very strong team also. But once you get to the final anything can happen. So I believe we have a chance."
Much will depend on the choices made by the Spanish captain, Jordi Arrese and his advisers. Having taken the tough decision to leave Albert Costa behind in favour of the young left hander Feliciano Lopez, it comes down to the question of whether Arrese is going to gamble and throw Lopez, with his big, fast-court serve, into the opening singles against Lleyton Hewitt in place of Moya or, if his form doesn't improve when the team assemble in Melbourne, even in place of Ferrero.
Dropping Ferrero would be a very tough call. Not only has he had a spell as world No 1 in recent weeks but, contrary to what one might think, his grass court record is better than Moya's. While Ferrero got to the fourth round at Wimbledon last summer, Moya elected not to show up for the second consecutive year. Previously he had never got past the second round.
Ferrero's good showing at Wimbledon this year was, ironically, all bound up with contests against members of that winning French Davis Cup team of 2001. He beat Nicolas Escude, the French hero in Melbourne, when Escude was forced to quit at two sets to one down with an injury in the second round, and then went down to Sebastien Grosjean in the sixteens, after losing tiebreakers in the third and fourth sets.
[...]
**correction** DC UPDATE Corretja and Feli Lopez are scheduled to arrive in Melbourne at 20:30 local time on Wednesday and begin practicing at the Kooyong Tennis Club Thursday. Carlos will join them Friday and JC is to be there Saturday.
-----
So I suppose JC is still in LA and Carlos in Miami. *scratch head* Thought this might be helpful for all you lucky fans in AUS who want to ambush... errr... I mean check out the Spanish Armada's practice sessions ^^
If Barcelona is your starting point and Melbourne your destination, you can turn either left or right; east or west. Some airline or another will eventually get you Down Under.
But Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya had a specific reason for going west, and as they journeyed on across the Pacific after their week in Houston, they must have been wondering whether the Tennis Masters Cup had been worth it. The Spanish pair, who, presumably, will be spearheading Spain's challenge for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas against Australia in the final at Melbourne Park, played six round robin matches between them and lost all but one.
Both are experienced and professional enough to try and put that kind of disappointment behind them but, whichever way you look at it, the week in Space City did not exactly send their confidence into orbit.
"I have to forget about this tournament," said Fererro, looking as if it had been a very long year after his third consecutive loss in Houston. "For me it was a bad tournament. So now I have to practise on grass, maybe here for a few days, because there are grass courts at the Westside Tennis Club, and think about Australia."
Moya, having beaten Rainer Schuettler in his third and ultimately meaningless round robin match, was able to be a little more positive. Asked if Spain would take confidence from the fact that France upset Australia on a grass court inside the Rod Laver Arena in the 2001 Davis Cup Final, Moya replied: "It helps. We know we don't have the experience the French team have on grass. But they did it, and I don't consider them better than we are. I think we have a very strong team. But Australia have a very strong team also. But once you get to the final anything can happen. So I believe we have a chance."
Much will depend on the choices made by the Spanish captain, Jordi Arrese and his advisers. Having taken the tough decision to leave Albert Costa behind in favour of the young left hander Feliciano Lopez, it comes down to the question of whether Arrese is going to gamble and throw Lopez, with his big, fast-court serve, into the opening singles against Lleyton Hewitt in place of Moya or, if his form doesn't improve when the team assemble in Melbourne, even in place of Ferrero.
Dropping Ferrero would be a very tough call. Not only has he had a spell as world No 1 in recent weeks but, contrary to what one might think, his grass court record is better than Moya's. While Ferrero got to the fourth round at Wimbledon last summer, Moya elected not to show up for the second consecutive year. Previously he had never got past the second round.
Ferrero's good showing at Wimbledon this year was, ironically, all bound up with contests against members of that winning French Davis Cup team of 2001. He beat Nicolas Escude, the French hero in Melbourne, when Escude was forced to quit at two sets to one down with an injury in the second round, and then went down to Sebastien Grosjean in the sixteens, after losing tiebreakers in the third and fourth sets.
[...]
**correction** DC UPDATE Corretja and Feli Lopez are scheduled to arrive in Melbourne at 20:30 local time on Wednesday and begin practicing at the Kooyong Tennis Club Thursday. Carlos will join them Friday and JC is to be there Saturday.
-----
So I suppose JC is still in LA and Carlos in Miami. *scratch head* Thought this might be helpful for all you lucky fans in AUS who want to ambush... errr... I mean check out the Spanish Armada's practice sessions ^^
