CLAVET'S WEDDING A couple pictures from Francisco Clavet's (a Spanish tennis player) wedding in which JC and Ms. Bonilla attended just before Wimbledon. Sorry pictures are extremely small =(



pic: JC and Patricia Conde
pic: with the newlyweds

Posted by nana at 2:00 AM

ATP INSIDER

->> – SEEN AND HEARD [...] Star Magazine profiled the “Gods of the Grass” in its issue that came out June 23, highlighting JUAN CARLOS FERRERO, MARAT SAFIN, JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL and ANDY RODDICK…

->> – ESPY NOMINATED … ANDRE AGASSI, ROGER FEDERER, JUAN CARLOS FERRERO and ANDY RODDICK have been nominated for Best Male Tennis Player for ESPN’s 12th annual ESPY Awards. The honors will be handed out on Wednesday July 14 at Hollywood’s Kodak Theater, and the program will air on ESPN at 9 p.m. on Sunday, July 19. Vote for the winner online at: http://espn.go.com/espy2004/s/04maletennisominees.html

>> more ATP Insider


"Gods of the Grass"!?! Are they talking about the same JC?? =P

Posted by nana at 4:36 AM

OLYMPICS UPDATE Wednesday June 30th the ITF will make the official nominations for the Olympics but Spain has already chosen their team. It will be comprised of JC, Moya, Robredo and Lopez. Interesting to note that despite playing doubles with other partners during the season, the team captain Avendaño has paired Robredo and Lopez together to play in Athens.

>> full article (in Spanish)


ooh, I was hoping Nadal would play doubles with Robredo =( Wonder if this will be the team for the DC semis as well...

Posted by nana at 1:18 AM

ARTICLE Ferrero: "I am not in my line of game"


The Spanish player Juan Carlos Ferrero indicated after being defeated in the third round of Wimbledon by the American Robby Ginepri, that his game was off and that lacking confidence it was impossible to do more.


"I didn't feel comfortable at any moment," said Ferrero. "Just very slow. I needed preparation, and he hit the ball deep, I got there too late and there was no time to prepare for the shot, and I got discouraged little by little. In the third set everything came apart."

"My confidence is not as high as it used to be," the Spaniard added. "In this tournament I thought I could restore it, but it is clear that my game is not there."

"Even after making the break in the first set I didn't feel well," continued Ferrero who was bothered by the bandage on his right thigh.

"The bandage was to help he but it also slowed me down and when you feel bad it bothers everything. Defeats like this don't help much."

"Now I return to train on clay and then head to Gstaad and soon I'll start training on hard courts for competition in Toronto (Canada)" Ferrero commented on his next tournaments.

>> full article (in Spanish)


This is just a rough translation but you get the idea that JC isn't too please with himself... poor guy. Anyway, as he said his next tournament is Gstaad which takes place July 3-11. Better luck to him there ^^

Posted by nana at 8:33 AM

ARTICLE A new injury for JC. Two days ago during his match against Bouttler (3-3) he started to feel pain in his right thigh (a "contractura"?). This injury is not the same re-occuring one he has with his abductor. Because of this problem he had to tone down his game, chase less balls and call for a trainer (during the break?).

"I'm training well, but two days ago I noticed a little problem with my leg. I have a small contractura(?). Fortunately with massages and stretchings I believe this problem won't get any worse. In addition, since they predict rain for the next few days, it will give me time to recover."


>> full article
>> another article


Just when we all thought JC was healthy he manages to injure himself again =(

Posted by nana at 10:41 AM

ORDER OF PLAY Day 4: Thursday, 24 June

Court 3 11.00 am Start

1. Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Rnd.
Mark Hilton (GBR) leads Albert Costa (ESP) T/F 5-1
followed by:
2. Ladies' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Dinara Safina (RUS)[29] v. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
3. Gentlemen's Singles - 2nd Rnd.
Stefan Koubek (AUT) v. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[6]
4. Ladies' Singles - 2nd Rnd.
Gisela Dulko (ARG) v. Martina Navratilova (USA)


Order and court the same as Day 3 but note the change in starting time (one hour earlier) ^^

Posted by nana at 6:59 AM

INTERVIEW An excerpt from Marat Safin's Wimbledon interview where he's talking about the tournament schedules and how it's hard on the players physically.

[...]

Q. Is this why guys are getting hurt more often?

MARAT SAFIN: Of course. Because you have a very long years. Like, for example, Ferrero, he's basically finish for this year. Because he played -- he finish last year. What he played? Masters, and he had to fly in Australia for the Davis Cup. From there he had to come back and already he had no time even to rest. He has to prepare for next season. And that's why he got hurt. That's why basically he's suffering for this year, that he can't do anything.

>> full interview

Posted by nana at 2:51 PM

ATP POSTCARDS The ATP has released a series of 12 player postcards as part of the new Hit Me With Your Best Shot global ad campaign. JC is featured on one of the cards ^^

pic: sample postcard

>> more info here

Sorry... not Wimby news but I thought it was cute. I especially like the how they put a pic of JC where the stamp is supposed to go ^^

Posted by nana at 5:52 AM

PHOTOS From JC's first round match. More to come ^^




pic: ball toss
pic: forehand
* pic: happy with his win *

--with watermarks--

pic: return
pic: serve
pic: backhand
pic: waving with a big smile ^^


Much thanks to Liz for finding copies without watermarks ^^

Posted by nana at 5:28 AM

ARTICLE Ferrero Finds His Feet
Monday, June 21, 2004


Juan Carlos Ferrero won in straight sets in the first round at Wimbledon today. But the sixth seed was flattered by the 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 scoreline against battling Frenchman Julien Boutter.

Ferrero looked fit and well as he took a one set advantage against Boutter. The Spaniard missed four weeks off the tour suffering from chicken pox in March before sustaining wrist and rib injuries while practising for Hamburg last month.

But he was clearly in a determined mood against the Frenchman as he fought to maintain his record of never having lost a first-round match at The Championships.

Court Two was buzzing following the victory of 47-year-old Martina Navratilova immediately before Ferrero and Boutter stepped on court. And the crowd was treated to a much more competitive encounter as the pair traded ground strokes before Ferrero got the break in the seventh game and then sealed the lead.

But Boutter, who had lost in all his previous first-round appearances, would not go away quietly and he held a 4-3 advantage in the second set when rain stopped play.

It was the same story upon the resumption of play with Boutter determined to show he could grind it out with the 2003 French Open champion. But Ferrero, following an early mini-break, squeezed further ahead after Boutter had forced a tie-break.

The Spaniard finally put a difficult opponent to the sword in the third set.

And after his health problems he was relieved to take his first step towards at least emulating his best performance at The Championships, which was a run to the last 16 last year.

Posted by nana at 5:23 AM

NEWS According to the ATP, JC along with Roddick, Agassi, Federer, Safin and other top players will be featured in their official magazine DEUCE. JC's article is entitled "Low Down on Ferrero: What makes this Spaniard so good?" and looks to be a couple pages long ^^

You can pre-order now and this 2004 issue will be shipped in mid-July.

>> view contents
>> read more about it here

Why is Roddick on the cover again this year??

Posted by nana at 1:27 PM

AWARD JC was awarded with the Veterano trophy, an award that is given by the Osborne company each year to the sportsman that displays "charisma, personality, character and leadership".

This year JC beat notable atheletes such as Fernando Alonso and Pau Gasol for the award.

At the ceremony, JC was accompanied by his father Eduardo and his coach Antonio.

>> full article (in Spanish)

The news is old (posted it a few days ago) but the picture is new ^^

Posted by nana at 1:16 PM

ARTICLE Gentlemen's Singles Preview

[...]

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was beaten in the second round of his defence of the French Open title, is sixth seed at Wimbledon and in line to play Coria in the quarter-final. But the American Mardy Fish or Sebastien Grosjean of France could cause problems for Ferrero before then.

>> full article

Posted by nana at 8:59 AM

DRAW The draw for Wimbledon is out. JC will be facing Julien Boutter (FRA) in the first round. He's 4-0 against Boutter with their last meeting being in Milan 2002. (Click here to see head-to-head) Some notable players in his quarter: Mirnyi, Grosjean (who defeated him last year in the 4th rd.), Clement. All the luck to JC!!

>> full draw

Posted by nana at 10:39 PM

PICTURES More pictures of JC and Costa during their exhibition match Tuesday.




pic: posing for the camera
pic: JC and Costa
pic: changing sides
pic: in action

Posted by nana at 7:05 AM

EXHIBITION JC defeated Costa 6-3, 7-5 in their exhibition match Tuesday that raised money for the construction of a center for Alzheimer patients. Supporting JC during the match was his entire family (father, sisters) and his girlfriend Patricia.

Also, after the match JC was honored by the Association of Friends and Relatives of Alzheimer Patients of Villena and Region with a painting by Pedro Marco, depicting Ferrero in action.


>> full article

More pictures to come later(?) =)


QUOTES JC expressed his desires and expectations for Wimbledon during his exhibition match 'Smash al Alzheimers'.

JC: "At Wimbledon, I want badly to rinse out the foul taste in my mouth of the injuries at the beginning of the year. I'll go there completely recovered from my injuries and with high expactations.

>> full article
>> another article


Good to hear JC is finally 100%. Hopefully he'll have success in Wimbledon but it'll be difficult considering his lack of match play. All the best of luck to him!! Also, looks like JC and Costa's exhibition match was a success. Almost 2500 spectators attended. More news to come later ^^

Posted by nana at 11:02 AM

UPDATE Good news!! According to his coach, JC will be able to compete in Wimbledon in full health.

Cascales: "Juan Carlos has been training hard these last ten days. Monday he was 100% for the first time and is far better. And Tuesday was the first time in which it he didn't feel the slightest pain in his ribs"

His coach also says that JC is looking forward to playing again and that he will be traveling to England on Friday to begin his Wimbledon run.


>> full article (in Spanish)

Posted by nana at 6:00 AM

AWARD JC is to be presented with the 6th edition of the 'Todo un Veterano' trophy on Monday. He was voted to receive this award by the listeners of 'Carrusel Deportivo de la Cadena Ser' based on these qualities: authenticity, charisma, personality, character and leadership. Previous recipitents of this award include Raúl González, José Antonio Camacho and Vicente del Bosque.

>> full article (in Spanish)

Posted by nana at 3:51 PM

RANKINGS UPDATE After failing to defend his RG title JC fell two spots this week as both Nalbandian and Henman surpassed him in the rankings. He is also now #16 in the Champions Race =(


INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking
As of Monday, 6/7/2004

1 Federer, Roger (SUI) 5610
2 Roddick, Andy (USA) 4695
3 Coria, Guillermo (ARG) 3740
4 Nalbandian, David (ARG) 2625
5 Henman, Tim (GBR) 2545
6 Ferrero, Juan Carlos (ESP) 2510

Posted by nana at 3:44 PM

EXHIBITION MATCH Another update on the Ferrero vs Costa Alzheimer Smash. This exhibition match is to take place on June 15th at the Club de Tenis de Villena. All the proceeds will go to the Villena Association for Alzheimers which supports those suffering from the disease and their families. Queen Sofia of Spain declined her invitation to attend the event stating scheduling conflicts but there are rising rumors that perhaps Prince Felipe and his new bride Princess Letizia will make a surprise appearance. Apparently the Prince and JC are quite good friends (afterall JC did attend his wedding a few weeks ago).


pic: poster for the event

>> article and picture of Eduardo
>> article about Queen declining invitation
>> old article from villena.net (pictures of JC during press conference)

Posted by nana at 7:56 AM

NEWS JC has pulled out of the Halle tourney. I can't find any news on this and just know this by looking the draw. Hopes that JC is resting and gets better on Wimbledon.

Posted by Unknown at 1:36 AM