Is it 2003?

Juan Carlos Ferrero v. Andy Roddick in the final of a tournament? Talk about flashback. I'm rooting for Ferrero, but I think Andy's got this one.

Read 'Resurgent Roddick and Ferrero set up final showdown'

Juanqui KOs Rafa 7-6 7-6

Well, yet another shocker. After 4 straight losses to Rafael Nadal, who thought Juan Carlos Ferrero had it in him? VAMOS, Juanqui. Nadal was making an uncharacteristic amount of errors--looked liked his timing was off; and Juanqui was just solid as a rock in the tiebreaks. ETA: Here are post match interview audio clips and a match review.

Crazy amount of Spaniards in the quarters. Let's see if Tommy Robredo and/or David Ferrer can join Juanqui in the semis. ETA: Robredo's through. Vamos Espagna!

This has got to be the most WTF week of tennis.

ps. Ana Ivanovic v. Dinara Safina tomorrow!

*Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Gimelstob's Blog: Couch Potato Pros

American journeyman Justin Gimelstob's got a funny entry in his Sports Illustrated blog.

Money quote: "With almost every TV showing a different match, there is a feeling of sensory overload. But you would be amazed at how long players sit there staring like zombies. A who's who of French Open champions and contenders can put even the finest couch potatoes to shame. My top four seeds in logging couch time on Monday would have to be Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, Juan Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio -- ironically, the last four French Open champions."

Good to know that the pros find tennis on TV just as addictive as the fans.

Ace Hot List

Well, the most important tennis rankings are out.

For the men, the Spanish Armada is, of course, well represented in the top 10--  Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Carlos Ferrero. And apparently bald is also beautiful, with 2 shiny domes making the cut.

For the women, the top 10 is dominated by the Russians and sort-of Russians: Myskina, Dementieva, Kirilenko, Golovin and Sharapova.

The Women's and Men's Lists

I must say I disagree with the rankings. Ivanovic, Venus, Dementieva and Mirza are IMHO the most beautiful women on tour; and the spaniards should clearly have a lock on the top 4 (Feli first, and where is Moya?), and the absence of Ancic and Nalbandian is obviously poor judgement. (Roddick, top 10? Blasphemy!)

The Struggles of Juan Carlos Ferrero

From the Sun-Sentinel: One man's struggles

Juan Carlos Ferrero is ready to pounce. The return from Nalbandian has landed short, and Ferrero prepares to put it away with his whipsaw forehand.

From 2000 to 2003, that forehand helped make the Spaniard a fixture in the top 5. He briefly reached No. 1 in 2003, when he won the French Open and lost in the U.S. Open final to Roddick. In early 2004, the tennis world was buzzing about the prospect of a three-way fight for the top spot among Roddick, Federer and Ferrero.

Ferrero never stepped into the ring.

Moya, Nalbandian and Ferrero Visit Great Wall of China

More "Tennis Players in Exotic Places" photos out of China today.  This time, Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, and Juan Carlos Ferrero paid a visit to the Great Wall of China to promote the Beijing Open.  Photos in the People's Daily Online here.  Just disregard the captions which refer to  Juan Carlos as "Carlos Ferrero":)

Juan Carlos Ferrero

CNNSI's Jon Wertheim reports in his weekly Tennis Mailbag on the behind-the-scenes action in Rome last week.  He says "reliable sources" tell him that Juan Carlos Ferrero's people, in an attempt to finagle him a wild card into the Rome Masters event, offered to swap two wild cards for Italian players to the next Valencia event for one for Ferrero to the Rome event.  No luck. 

If true, you've got to love how the business interests in tennis are so intertwined that a player's official representatives can offer to distribute wildcards to a tournament, even though Valencia is practically Ferrero's hometown tournament. 

No Wild Card for Juan Carlos

Juan Carlos Ferrero got a surprise when the list of wildcards for the Masters Series event in Rome next week was released yesterday - he' not on it.  The Italians were feeling particularly nationalistic and gave all four wildcards to Italian players - Potito Starace, Davide Sanguinetti, Alessio de Mauro, and Andreas Seppi.

Although his play has improved of late, Ferrero's ranking still hasn't recovered to the point where he can gain direct entry.  And to make matters worse, the Hamburg Masters Series event hasn't yet committed to giving him a wildcard either leaving Ferrero with the prospect of missing two key French Open tuneup events. 

"I thought they were going to give me wild cards in both (the Rome and Hamburg) tournaments but they didn't," he said.

"If I want to play in Hamburg, maybe I will have to do qualifying.  For sure it's not good for me to be missing two Masters events, but I haven't played qualifying for a long time. I don't know yet what I'm going to do."

Coria Over Ferrero

From The Telegraph: Coria takes fast track on road to recovery

Compared to Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet, the two new kids on the block who contested the second semi-final, Guillermo Coria and Juan Carlos Ferrero, are almost elder-statesmen of the game.

Both have been dragged down by injury and illness during the past 12 months, but thankfully, for the good of a competitive summer on the red stuff, both have shown here that they are well on the road to full recovery.

Coria is a little further down that road than his Spanish rival, but Ferrero indicated he was catching up fast in a semi-final in which a little too much was asked of his rehabilitation and he lost 6-2, 7-5.

Juan Carlos Ferrero in Monte Carlo

From Fox Sports: Ferrero vows to return to top

The 25-year-old Ferrero, the French Open winner in 2003, saw his standing in world tennis plummet last year when, first, he was hit by chicken pox and then by a wrist and rib injury.

"It was very frustrating but I am a strong tennis player," said Ferrero who faces Australian Open champion and second seeded Russian Marat Safin for a place in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters.

"I knew that sooner or later, I will be a good player once again."

"I have to take some time and not go in a hurry all of the time. I have to go step by step.

"You need patience to be a better player. Before what happened last year, I was always in the top five or top ten. Now I have to start again and make new goals, different goals than before, not winning Masters, not winning grand slams, you have to be physically and mentally good again."

"By the end of the year, I want to be back in the top 15. I will fight for that."

Juan Carlos Ferrero in Monte Carlo

From The Independent: Sombre mood fails to dampen Ferrero's spirit

The Monte Carlo Country Club, set on a hillside with a Mediterranean view along Avenue Princess Grace, at Roquebrune Cap Martin, just over the French border, is by tradition where the European clay court tennis season really begins.

And the tradition is continuing this week, even though the funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco is due to take place next Friday and three months of mourning have been declared.