Ferrer Wins His First Masters 1000 Series Title

Written by: Staff on 5th November 2012

BNP Paribas 2012 Masters Tennis Tournament

Ferrer Wins His First Masters 1000 Series Title

epa03457894 David Ferrer of Spain celebrates his victory after winning the final match against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland at the BNP Paribas 2012 Masters Tennis tournament in Paris, France, 04 November 2012. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

After a decade of waiting for a first Masters 1000 Series title, David Ferrer had minimal time to celebrate winning the BNP Paribas Masters before dashing for Paris ’ Gare du Nord and an evening Eurostar before completing the field for this week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Ferrer, the resolute little Spaniard and now most certainly the best active player never to have won a Grand Slam event, finally ended the sensational run of Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz to distinguish himself as the form man as the ATP season comes to a climax at London’s 02 Arena.

“I was very nervous because it was my chance to win a first Masters title, but somehow I knew it was my turn,” Ferrer said. “To me this is a dream to win here. If I won it’s because I have a great team.”

After back-to-back wins in his native Valencia and now at Paris ’s Palais de Omnisports, on the bank of the River Seine, the majority of players could be excused for suffering some degree of fatigue. But Ferrer, the most unstinting member of men’s tennis elite, will simply get on with the job in hand when he walks out to face Juan Martin Del Potro on Tuesday evening.

The 30-year-old Ferrer says he is in the best form of his career, but still thinks he is some way from matching the game’s top players. “Maybe I won more titles than Federer, but Federer won the important titles. Federer or Djokovic or Andy Murray, not me,” he said. “I will try to improve my game.”

It took a resolute player to break the run and spirit of Janowicz, who was bidding to become the first debutant to win a Masters 1000 Series title since Israel ’s Harel Levy at Toronto in August, 2000. Top 20 players Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marin Cilic, Janko Tipsarevic, Gilles Simon and of course Andy Murray had all fallen to the 6ft 8ins tall Pole who entered the tournament as a 69th ranked qualifier but achieved enough to expect to be seeded in January’s Australian Open.

World no.5 Ferrer might have been conceding 11 inches in height and several miles per hour in service speed but his pace around the court is lightning fast and he was perfectly equipped to deal with the Janowicz tactic of ballistic aces interspersed with repeated drop shots that had proved too much for his previous opponents.

Ferrer insisted: “I feel the pressure more than him, because I played three times in a Masters final. He’s a young player. It was the first final for him, without pressure.”