Juan Carlos Ferrero fighting to stay in his match against Andy Murray on Centre Court. The player known as “the mosquito” was on the receiving end of a painful sting from Andy Murray as the number three seed beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court. The authoritative victory over the former world number one puts Murray through to his first Wimbledon semi-final. In the first set it seemed that Ferrero was intent on avoiding a repeat of their one career encounter to date, last month at Queen’s where Murray wrapped up a simple straight sets victory. True, the Spaniard had a couple of jitters at the outset, and he pushed a half-volley long to give Murray an early chance to break. But the chance went by. Oddly at this stage many rows of the Centre Court were empty, with some in the crowd permitting themselves a short break from the sizzling July heat after witnessing Roger Federer’s earlier victory over Ivo Karlovic. Murray was winning his serve with ease, and Ferrero was having to work much harder to hold on to his. But nonetheless the Spaniard was playing a canny game. As late as 5-5 it seemed possible he could snatch the set. With Murray seeming a little heavy after his marathon Monday night victory over Stanislas Wawrinka, the loss of the set could have been an important blow. But it didn’t happen. At 5-6 Ferrero left the court open for a Murray passing shot. One point later the Scot got a lucky netcord, and he then he brought up set point at 40-30 with a powerful crosscourt forehand that left his opponent stranded. That one went by, but a backhand return brought up another opportunity, whereupon Ferrero delivered his first double fault of the day. Early in the second, it all seemed to be going wrong for Murray. In the first game Ferrero produced a forehand crosscourt winner to bring up two break points. The Scot pulled out his fastest serve – 132mph – of the tournament so far to rescue the first. But when he put a backhand in the net on the second, the game and the break belonged to the Spaniard. The turning point came out of the blue with Murray at 1-3 deuce, when he won an astonishing 20 of the next 21 points. He was helped by the 2003 Roland Garros champion delivering his second double fault of the match at exactly the wrong moment to put the set back on serve, but a newly energised Murray was making no mistakes and a deflated Ferrero could not stay with him. Ferrero has enjoyed a resurgence this year. He was given a wild card here on the basis of his ranking of 115 in May. But a good Roland Garros took him to number 70, and before this match he was assured of a spot in the top 40 when the new rankings come out next Monday. For Murray the stakes are higher. He can take the number two spot from Roger Federer by winning the title here – and if he does, he will be a mere five points short of Rafael Nadal’s tally at number one. Ferrero, who has never made the last four at Wimbledon, needed to state his case early in the third set if he was to stay in the match. Instead, break point chances were coming Murray’s way. Ferrero delivered a delightful dropshot to save the third of these at 2-2. But a fourth was too much and Murray converted it with a forehand that he made look straightforward. He was playing so briskly between points that it was clear he wanted to spend as little time as possible baking beneath the sapping heat of the Centre Court. Moreover, he was overwhelming Ferrero on the Spaniard’s serve, and broke him to love for 5-2. In the end he required just one hour and 41 minutes to complete a comprehensive victory.
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the legend
joyful rogger fedder
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Murray swats away 'mosquito'
Wild card Ferrero outplays Simon
France's Gilles Simon in action during his straight sets defeat to Juan Carlos Ferrero. Juan Carlos Ferrero became the first wild card since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon after clinically dispatching eighth seed Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-2. The Spaniard played solid tennis throughout the contest and stood firm while his opponent crumbled mentally around him. After injuries kept him out of action for the best part of six months, 2003 French Open champion Ferrero had slipped to 115 in the world at the time when direct acceptance was decided for Wimbledon, but he then went on to reach the semi-finals at Queen’s (the furthest he has even been on grass) and will now be back into the top 40 when the rankings are updated next Monday. Simon, meanwhile, had been on a terrible run coming into the tournament, barely able to string two wins together over the past few months, but he put this behind him to make a run to the fourth round here, dropping only one set on the way. Confidence is an enormous factor in his game however, and it was clear from the off that he was going to struggle today. “Get your first serve in!” “I’ve never served so badly before”, “He always chooses the right side to go, that really hacks me off” and finally, “I’m so unhappy”. This was Simon’s impromptu press conference, held over the course of the first set as he squandered an early break, battled his way back, served for the set and even had a set point, only to go down 7-4 in the eventual tiebreak. He was looking morosely towards the French enclave in the press box containing his coach Thierry Tulasne (himself a former world No.10) and 1997 Wimbledon finalist Cedric Pioline, who seemed more concerned with watching the Centre Court scoreboard as the Amelie Mauresmo – Dinara Safina match ebbed and flowed. While this soul-searching and chest-beating was going on, Ferrero quietly went about his business at the other end, putting in the kind of phlegmatic performance that took him to the top of the ATP rankings six years ago. The 29-year-old stuck to his game plan, and the breaks continued to come. To his credit, Simon tried everything that he could and sent down services ranging from 129 mph to a mere 64 mph at one point, but Ferrero won 29 of his 38 receiving points on the Frenchman’s second serve, while his own first service was good enough to carry him through. He broke once mid-way through the second and again early in the third, by which time Simon was going through the motions and mentally was already in the hard-court season that will suit his game better. For Ferrero, meanwhile, the dream is still alive. And to think that he needed a wild card to just to make it into the first round.
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One to watch: Juan Carlos Ferrero
A bit like Lleyton Hewitt this year, the 29-year-old Spaniard is something of a comeback king. They are both unseeded, though Ferrero is the lowliest ranked player, at 70, to get this far. (Hewitt is ranked 56). But it was not always thus. Ferrero was world No.1 for eight weeks in 2003, the year he won the French Open and reached final of the US Open. Last year was the first time he had finished outside the top 50 since he turned professional in 1998. Ferrero's progress to the quarters has been impressive. His first two victims were 44th ranked Mikhail Youzhny and 37th ranked Fabrice Santoro. He then dismissed 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez in a five-setter in the third round, and followed that up with an easy defeat of eighth seed Gilles Simon in the last 16. Ferrero has played Murray only once before – in the semi-finals of Queen’s just a few weeks ago, a match Murray won in straight sets. But Ferrero says he is playing with more rhythm than at Queen’s and that he has learned something about Murray’s play, saying: "I have to be aggressive all the time, because he likes to play on one level, and then he changes the rhythm very fast. "I think [it] is very difficult to play against him because of this. So I will focus on my return, because his serve has been very, very big. If I want to win, [it is] going be very difficult. He is at home win and everybody wants him to win." Even after Murray’s marathon match under the Centre Court roof on Monday, the Spaniard has spent just six minutes less on court than Murray. Ferrero is only the third wild card to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. In 1986, Pat Cash lost to Andre Agassi, but Ferrero would prefer to remember Goran Ivanisevic's example in 2001 when the Croat went on to win the title. “I would like to repeat what [Ivanesevic] did. But of course it's a little bit difficult yet to say. I'm happy about the wild card and happy about the game that I'm playing.” Whatever happens, this performance alone will see him shoot back up the rankings. In May, at the time of the Wimbledon cut off, the Spaniard was ranked 115. Reaching the quarter-finals guarantees that he will be back in the top 40. If he beats Murray, he is expected to return to the top 35. |
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ferrero produces vintage display
This match had a curious feel to it. It was as if there should be a great gulf between the two players, partly because of their respective rankings (Ferrero was number 115 on May 11, the date of Wimbledon’s entry cut-off, although he is now number 70) but also because of their ages. It feels somehow that Gonzalez is a much newer face, and that Ferrero is definitely the veteran. But actually there is less than six months between them, with Gonzalez turning 29 at the end of July. Early in the first set the Chilean – playing with a heavily-strapped right knee – broke the Ferrero serve. Even then it felt as if this would be the blueprint for the match – that Ferrero had done well to make the third round, but that he could not make it into the second week. Gonzalez was to go on and capture that first set 6-4, but the next two sets unexpectedly upset what felt like the pattern. The second set felt much tighter. Gonzalez had an early break point but sent a wild forehand wide. Then just when a tiebreak looked inevitable, right at the death, with Ferrero 6-5 on serve, the Spaniard grabbed and converted break point. It was a bolt from the blue, and Ferrero greeted it with a Nadal-like cry of: “Vamos!” The third was every bit as tight, although quicker to wind up to its climax – and once again the outcome felt wholly unexpected. Ferrero was at 5-4 on serve when a half-volley forced a backhand error for double set point. Heroically, Gonzalez saved both. Ferrero would not yield, seizing a wonderful crosscourt return off a slow second serve for another set point. The Chilean’s face was bleak with regret as he watched the ball whistle past him, and when Ferrero sent a marvellous passing shot down the line to make it two sets to one, it was too much. Gonzalez smashed his racked twice into the turf, earning a code violation from umpire Fergus Murphy. As you might expect, Ferrero – who had won just one of his 10 previous encounters against top 10 players – selected this moment for a toilet break. Gonzalez’s foul temper receded as quickly as it had arrived, and he waited for his opponent sitting comically on his upended racket on the baseline, grinning and waving at the applauding crowd. But a long opening game proved that he still meant business. He out-thought Ferrero to take the break at once, and clenched his fist to show that the clowning was over. Then just as Ferrero was preparing to serve at 2-4, an announcement came unexpectedly over the public address system that the match might be completed on Centre Court later in the evening. Far from tiring, the two players were going at it with renewed vigour, much to the delight of the crowd (with whom, understandably, the announcement that this match might switch to the Centre Court had not been terribly popular). Amid light drizzle, Ferrero saved break points. But the set stayed on serve until the Spaniard was at 5-4, when – typically of this encounter – the end came out of nowhere. Gonzalez put the ball in the net and suddenly it was match point, whereupon he double faulted. Ferrero fell to the ground before the players embraced at the net, and with supreme courtesy Gonzalez waited for his opponent so they could exit the court together. The crowd rose to them.
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