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.

He suffered a stretch of bad luck in 2004, contracting chicken pox and later injuring his right wrist and ribs when he fell during practice.

He finished that year at No. 31, and though he rebounded somewhat to his current No. 15, his match record entering Nasdaq was a feeble 6-5.

At 26, when he could reasonably expect to be near his peak, Ferrero is searching for his former self. In February, he started working with Jose Perlas, who has coached Moya and Albert Costa to French Open titles.

"He has that level in him, and he plays it now in phases of 20 to 30 minutes," Perlas said after one of Ferrero's practices. "The challenge is to prolong those stretches."

Perlas believes that just one strong tournament result would boost Ferrero's confidence "and serve as a catapult."

And that forehand? "It's still there, but sometimes he isn't as relaxed, and he's maybe trying too much."

In the practice with Nalbandian, Ferrero winds up that forehand and attacks the shallow ball. This was once an auto-pilot winner for Ferrero. He hits it crosscourt, but it lands short and sits up.

Nalbandian, ranked No. 3, the stratosphere Ferrero once inhabited, casually takes a couple of steps to his right and smacks a clean winner.

Ferrero's shoulders slump. He stands there for a few moments, then turns and walks slowly back to the baseline to begin the next point.

Comments

[Shawn]

forget the forehand. can someone help him hit a less defensive backhand. and teach him how to return big serves.

[Antonio]

Shawn, I saw Ferrero playing here in Madrid, and winning the Masters beating Federer in Semis. He was no.1, I was there, and I can assure you that this guy did not have precisely a defenssive backhand and a bad return. It was quite impressive the way and strength in his arms.

Any tennis teacher will tell you how strong and winner was his forehand.

This happens to many players, in tennis or golf. Simply that great touch has gone, and you do not know why. He changes the racket, he hits a bit later, many possible reasons. But it is gone. Because tennis and golf require an exquisite balance, are really technic games. A percent of a second, an imperceptible change and...

[Spud Dog]

From the end of 2003 and through the entire 2004 season Ferrero had one injury or illness after another. Chicken Pox, abductor muscle, thigh, wrist, ankle, back. I'm not sure if he has ever recovered from this. Antonio is right, with his style of game a half step can be a huge difference!