Juan Carlos Ferrero - Spain 
| Birth Date:
| 2/12/1980 |
Age:
| 32 |
| Birth Place:
| Onteniente, Spain |
Residence:
| Villena, Spain |
| Height:
| 6'0'' (183 cm) |
Weight:
| 161 lbs (73 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 2000 (12 years on tour) |
Plays:
| Right-handed |
| Official Website:
| www.equelite.com |
Twitter:
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Currently ranked No.22 in the world, Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero has 14 career ATP Tour titles including one Grand Slam.
He has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the world, first achieving that rank on Sept. 8, 2003. His highest doubles ranking is No. 198, reached on March 2, 2003.
He leapt from 346th at the end of 1998 to 45th at the end of 1999, capturing his first ATP title at Mallorca in his fifth career event.
He breached the Top 15 a year later, reaching the ATP finals of two events and making the semifinals of the French Open. He also led Spain to its first Davis Cup title ever. He went 31-13 on the year and made it to at least the quarterfinals in seven different tournaments.
The acceleration continued in 2001 as he finished No. 5, the first Spaniard in the Top 5 since Alex Corretja in 1998. He won four titles and at one point had a 16-match win streak. He reached the semifinals at the French Open for a second straight year, and made his Wimbledon debut by reaching the third round.
In 2002, Ferrero moved up one notch to finish at No. 4 in the world, winning two titles and reaching five finals, including the French Open. The final went five sets as Ferrero lost the first two to No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, won the next two and was leading the fifth 3-1 before Hewitt rallied to a 6-4 win. He became the first Spaniard to finish in the Top 5 in back-to-back years since Sergi Brugera did it in 1993-94.
The meticulous improvement continued in 2003 as he improved to No. 3 by the end of 2003, as he won four titles, most notably the French Open. He became the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1980 to win at least 30 matches on both clay and hard courts in the first season, going 33-5 on clay and 30-12 on hard courts. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, he won at Monte Carlo and Valencia, then took the crown at the French after two years of near misses.
He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon then made the finals of the US Open by defeating former champions Hewitt in the quarterfinals and Andre Agassi in the semifinals. He lost to American phenom Andy Roddick in the final, but still took over the No. 1 rank in the world on Sept. 8, holding it for eight weeks before dropping back to third at year’s end.
He was the second Spaniard (at the time) to hold the rank of No. 1 in the world, and the first to reach the US Open final since Manuel Orantes did so in 1975. The big year was not lost in the pocket book as Ferrero earned a career-high $3.03 million.
Injuries and illness crushed him in 2004, sending the former No. 1 back down to earth. After reaching the semifinals at the AustralianOpen (losing to Roger Federer), he missed all of March with the chicken pox and was shocked in the first round at Monte Carlo. He took another month off to regain strength and did not play in a tournament prior to attempting to defend his title at the French – hurting his wrist and ribs during practice in early may.
He lost in the second round of the French and the third round at Wimbledon, failing to win back-to-back matches the rest of the year. His ranking reflected the string of bad luck. He dropped to 11th on Sept. 13, his first time out of the Top 10 since May of 2002 then took a nose dive from 13th to 33rd on Oct. 18.
He battled his way back into the Top 20 in 2005, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon (losing to Federer), and compiling a 44-25 record overall.
He slid the other way in 2006, dropping to 23rd after peaking at No. 18. He did not advance past the third round at any of the Slams.
He finished 24th in 2007, highlighted by a quarterfinals appearance at Wimbledon. The ranking took another big hit in 2008 as he slid out of the Top 50 for the first time since his rookie season of 1998. After going 7-2 in the first month with a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open and a win over Rafael Nadal in Rome, the injury bug bit him again. Ferrero retired from the first round at the French Open with a bad leg, the second round of Wimbledon with a hamstring and withdrew from the US Open with a shoulder. In a span of eight months (Feb. 11 to Oct. 20), he fell from No. 15 to No. 63.
Ever the warrior, Ferrero battled his way back into the Top 25 in 2009, finishing 23rd and snapping an 110-tournament streak without a title by winning at Casablanca. He had his best showing at Wimbledon since 2003, making the quarterfinals before losing to Andy Murray.
He was ranked as low as 115th on May 11, but the Wimbledon performance saw him vault from 70th to 37th. He finished the year ranked 23rd.
Ferrero’s 2010 started off slowly with a first-round loss in the Australian Open. Two days after his 30th birthday, he reached his 30th tour-level final, winning Costa do Sauipe for his 13th career title. He won at Buenos Aires the next week, defeating countryman David Ferrer, eventually running his win streak to 14 matches before falling to Ferrer in the finals at Acapulco.
He reached the third round at the French Open, but was bounced in the first-round of Wimbledon by 63rd-ranked Xavier Malisse.
Grand Slam Career Titles
Singles (1): French Open (2003)
Year-End Singles Rankings: 1997 – 681st; 1998 – 346th; 1999 – 45th; 2000 – 12th; 2001 -5th; 2002 – 4th; 2003 – 3rd; 2004 – 31st; 2005 – 17th; 2006 – 23rd; 2007 – 24th; 2008 – 55th; 2009 – 23rd.
Personal
Began playing tennis at age seven. Collects motorcycles and cars. Big fan of the Real Madrid soccer squad. Owns his own tennis school, Equelite-Juan Carlos Ferrero, in his hometown of Villena. Also owns a hotel called “Hotel Ferrero” in Bocairente. Received the title of Spain’s “National Sportsman of the Year” in 2003 from King Juan Carlos, the highest honor in sports in the country.
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