David Ferrer

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David Ferrer bigraphy, stories - Tennis player

David Ferrer : biography

1982–04–02 –

David Ferrer Ern ( born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain, and the World No. 3 in the ATP Rankings as of July 2013. ATP ranking] Ferrer turned professional in 2000, and is known as a clay-court specialist, having won half of his titles on the surface. However, he has had significant success on all surfaces, having reached the final of the French Open in 2013, the semi-finals of the Australian and US Opens twice each, and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon twice. He was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2008, 2009 and 2011. His biggest individual title to date was the Paris Masters in 2012 and he was runner-up at the Tennis Masters Cup in 2007. He first achieved a top-10 ranking in 2006 and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 in July 2013.

Playing style and reputation

Ferrer is noted for being one of the more dogged, agile, and fit players on the tour, and he has won many matches with consistent baseline play, great fitness, footspeed, and determination., ESPN, 9 September 2012. Although he does not possess powerful groundstrokes like many of his contemporaries, his ability to keep the ball deep in play and move his opponents around the court has allowed him to be successful on all surfaces, especially on clay and hard courts. Ferrer’s groundstrokes are both equally solid and consistent. Although he is not a great net player, Ferrer’s foot speed allows him to quickly cut off his opponents’ shots and volley whilst they’re off balance. Darren Cahill has said that Ferrer and Novak Djokovic are the two best returners in the men’s game, even surpassing former dominant return specialists like Andre Agassi, who Cahill previously regarded as the best return specialist in the history of men’s tennis. In 2007, Roger Federer regarded Ferrer as the best returner in the men’s game., The Daily Fix, 26 January 2011.

Career

Early years

Ferrer was born in Xàbia in the province of Alicante, but he moved to Gandia at age thirteen, followed two years later by a move to Barcelona to attend the Catalan Tennis Federation. He spent nine months at Equelite, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy in Villena, before moving back to Xàbia while practicing in Denia.

Once, as a teenager, when Ferrer did not practice hard enough, his coach, Javier Piles, locked him in a completely dark 2m x 2m ball closet for several hours, giving him only a piece of bread and a bit of water. After this incident he was fed up with tennis and went to work at a construction site, but after a week he returned to Piles and asked if he could remain at the club and play tennis. As of 2012, he is still coached by Piles and has said he considers him a second father.http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/06/andy-murray-david-ferrer-live

Ferrer turned professional in 2000, finishing as world no. 419, winning in Poland F1 and Spain F3, finishing runner-up in Spain F1. 2001 was not a particularly good year for him. He won his first career Challenger title in Sopot and reached the semifinals at Manerbio the following week. He also reached the semifinals in Spain F15 and Spain F16.

2002

He played consistently in ATP (10–6) and Challenger (35–13) tournaments, winning his first ATP title in Bucharest (defeated Acasuso) and reaching his first ATP final in just his second ATP event in Umag (defeated David Nalbandian and Guillermo Coria, lost to Carlos Moyá). He won Challenger titles in Naples, Valencia, and Sassuolo. All 10 ATP match wins and 34 of 35 Challenger wins came on clay.

2003

The highlight of 2003 was Ferrer’s victory against Andre Agassi at the Rome Masters. He made his debut at all four Grand Slam tournaments, as well as six ATP Masters Series events. At AMS Roma, he upset the defending champion Agassi in the first round and lost to Ivan Ljubičić in the second round. Ferrer advanced to the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon. He reached his third career final in Sopot and lost to Guillermo Coria. In doubles, he reached his first career final in Acapulco with his partner Fernando Vicente. He compiled a 13–16 record on clay courts, 6–10 on hard, 1–1 on grass, and had a year-ending ranking of world no. 71.