Spain's poor Masters Cup no cause for Davis Cup alarm, says Ferrero
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) - A poor Spanish showing at the ATP Masters Cup should not be seen as a bad omen for Spain's Davis Cup final at Australia in two weeks, French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero warned.
Wimbledon (news - web sites) champion Roger Federer beat Ferrero 6-3, 6-1 here Friday at the season-ending showdown of the year's top eight players to stay unbeaten, giving him hope for a 1.5 million-dollar prize and world number two ranking.
Ferrero arrived with a chance to overtake American Andy Roddick for year-end world number one but lost all three of his matches and will be overtaken by Federer for the number two ranking if the Swiss star captures Sunday's final.
"It's only one bad week," Ferrero said. "I haven't played very good matches. I have to think of Australia and forget about this tournament because it was a bad tournament."
Spain's seventh-ranked Carlos Moya was eliminated as well after losing his first two round-robin matches.
Moya had a later match against sixth-ranked Rainer Schuettler, who will face Australian Open champion Andre Agassi in a Saturday semi-final that is a rematch of their Grand Slam finals meeting in January at Melbourne.
Federer already had booked a semi-final date with the winner of a later match between year-end world number one Andy Roddick, the US Open champion, and Argentina's fourth-ranked Guillermo Coria.
Ferrero will train in Los Angeles before flying to Melbourne for a Davis Cup final on grass. He will happily leave Houston after ripping this year's Masters as being far worse than those in Sydney and Shanghai the past two years.
"This Masters Cup is not the same as I played before," Ferrero said. "There it was much better than here, the court, the organization. This tournament is not special. The Masters is always special and it was not this time."
The Cup's return here for 2004 does not excite Ferrero, who said, "They need to improve for next year. It's a lot of things."
Federer won each set in 27 minutes, breaking Ferrero in the second game of the first set and holding through, then grabbing a 4-1 edge in the second set.
Ferrero managed a pair of break points in the sixth game but Federer saved both and held to lead 5-1. Ferrero saved a pair of match points but netted a backhand on Federer's third opportunity to end matters.
"I could swing freely," Federer said. "He wasn't in the mood to rally too much."
Federer leveled his career record against Ferrero at 3-3. His only prior victory without an injury retirement came at last year's Shanghai Masters Cup. Ferrero won their most recent match on his way to a title last month in Madrid.
"It was easy for me to get motivated," Federer said.
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) - A poor Spanish showing at the ATP Masters Cup should not be seen as a bad omen for Spain's Davis Cup final at Australia in two weeks, French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero warned.
Wimbledon (news - web sites) champion Roger Federer beat Ferrero 6-3, 6-1 here Friday at the season-ending showdown of the year's top eight players to stay unbeaten, giving him hope for a 1.5 million-dollar prize and world number two ranking.
Ferrero arrived with a chance to overtake American Andy Roddick for year-end world number one but lost all three of his matches and will be overtaken by Federer for the number two ranking if the Swiss star captures Sunday's final.
"It's only one bad week," Ferrero said. "I haven't played very good matches. I have to think of Australia and forget about this tournament because it was a bad tournament."
Spain's seventh-ranked Carlos Moya was eliminated as well after losing his first two round-robin matches.
Moya had a later match against sixth-ranked Rainer Schuettler, who will face Australian Open champion Andre Agassi in a Saturday semi-final that is a rematch of their Grand Slam finals meeting in January at Melbourne.
Federer already had booked a semi-final date with the winner of a later match between year-end world number one Andy Roddick, the US Open champion, and Argentina's fourth-ranked Guillermo Coria.
Ferrero will train in Los Angeles before flying to Melbourne for a Davis Cup final on grass. He will happily leave Houston after ripping this year's Masters as being far worse than those in Sydney and Shanghai the past two years.
"This Masters Cup is not the same as I played before," Ferrero said. "There it was much better than here, the court, the organization. This tournament is not special. The Masters is always special and it was not this time."
The Cup's return here for 2004 does not excite Ferrero, who said, "They need to improve for next year. It's a lot of things."
Federer won each set in 27 minutes, breaking Ferrero in the second game of the first set and holding through, then grabbing a 4-1 edge in the second set.
Ferrero managed a pair of break points in the sixth game but Federer saved both and held to lead 5-1. Ferrero saved a pair of match points but netted a backhand on Federer's third opportunity to end matters.
"I could swing freely," Federer said. "He wasn't in the mood to rally too much."
Federer leveled his career record against Ferrero at 3-3. His only prior victory without an injury retirement came at last year's Shanghai Masters Cup. Ferrero won their most recent match on his way to a title last month in Madrid.
"It was easy for me to get motivated," Federer said.
