ARTICLE Ferrero Beats Evans and the Rain in Miami
MIAMI (Reuters) - Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero had to wait out a tropical cloudburst before overcoming young American Brendan Evans 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami Wednesday.
Ferrero won the first set comfortably and appeared to be cruising to a straight sets victory when predicted thunderstorms arrived at the Crandon Park Tennis Center just as he was serving for the match.
Lightning initially stopped play with Ferrero serving at 5-4 in the second but rain soon powered down and continued long enough to keep the players off court for an hour and 33 minutes.
Once the rain had stopped and the court driers had done their work, the players returned for the few minutes that it took for Ferrero to seal his second round place.
"It wasn't easy to play in that situation," said Ferrero, who plays 11th seed Guillermo Canas next. "There was a lot of wind and he served very well."
Ferrero is attempting to push himself back up the rankings after his career went into freefall during a dismal 2004, which was blighted by a lingering bout of chickenpox and a succession of niggling injuries.
The Spaniard's failure to defend the ranking points he earned during a stellar 2003, during which he won the French Open, reached the U.S. Open final and climbed to number one in the rankings, cost him dear and he now languishes at 85 in the standings.
"I had a lot of problems last year but that was last year," said Ferrero. "Physically I'm perfect now but I need time to find the same rhythm as before. I'm not quite there yet."
MIAMI (Reuters) - Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero had to wait out a tropical cloudburst before overcoming young American Brendan Evans 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami Wednesday.
Ferrero won the first set comfortably and appeared to be cruising to a straight sets victory when predicted thunderstorms arrived at the Crandon Park Tennis Center just as he was serving for the match.
Lightning initially stopped play with Ferrero serving at 5-4 in the second but rain soon powered down and continued long enough to keep the players off court for an hour and 33 minutes.
Once the rain had stopped and the court driers had done their work, the players returned for the few minutes that it took for Ferrero to seal his second round place.
"It wasn't easy to play in that situation," said Ferrero, who plays 11th seed Guillermo Canas next. "There was a lot of wind and he served very well."
Ferrero is attempting to push himself back up the rankings after his career went into freefall during a dismal 2004, which was blighted by a lingering bout of chickenpox and a succession of niggling injuries.
The Spaniard's failure to defend the ranking points he earned during a stellar 2003, during which he won the French Open, reached the U.S. Open final and climbed to number one in the rankings, cost him dear and he now languishes at 85 in the standings.
"I had a lot of problems last year but that was last year," said Ferrero. "Physically I'm perfect now but I need time to find the same rhythm as before. I'm not quite there yet."
