David Ferrer is the Spanish Player of the Year

Written by: Staff on 7th December 2012

David Ferrer is the Spanish Player of the Year

epa03476222 David Ferrer of Spain returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their match of the Davis Cup final between the Czech Republic and Spain in Prague, Czech Republic, 18 November 2012. EPA/FILIP SINGER |

When it comes to Spanish tennis, David Ferrer has been forced to spend much of his career in the shadow of Rafael Nadal.

However with the Majorcan absent from the ATP World Tour since Wimbledon, Ferrer has been able to take the spotlight and has now been named Spanish Player of the Year by Association of Spanish Tennis Writers.

Ferrer last won the title back in 2006 and comes after a season in which he won seven ATP World Tour titles (on clay, grass and indoor and outdoor hard court), reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments and led Spain to yet another Davis Cup final appearance.

Although the 30-year-old from Valencia is one of the less vociferous players at the pinnacle of the game, he was more than prepared to elaborate on his delight at receiving the award.

“This season has been the best of my career and I will never forget it for many reasons,” said Ferrer whose most recent title was his first ever at Masters 1000 Series level, the BNP Paribas Masters at Paris’ Bercy.

“It was a shame to lose the Davis Cup final, but when you fight as hard as you can and accept you can’t do any more, the defeats are less painful; we could not have given any more.”

Previously Ferrer’s best title haul in the course of one year was three in 2007 but after beginning 2012 in style by winning the Heineken Open in Auckland, he lost in the last eight of the Australian Open to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

South America was his next destination and he captured the Copa Claro title in Buenos Aires, rapidly adding the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco without dropping a set.

On European clay, Ferrer reached the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, losing out Nadal. A quarterfinal on the blue clay of Madrid and a semi on the traditional red of Rome sent him to Roland Garros in good heart and reached the French Open’s final four where he again fell to Nadal

Proving that good players can compete on any surface, Ferrer prevailed on grass the UNICEF Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. “I’m very, very happy,” he said before donating a portion of his prize money to UNICEF . I’ve won two times here. This is special for me because grass is maybe my worst surface.”

At Wimbledon he beat four times finalist Andy Roddick before losing to Andy Murray and then reverted to clay, winning the Skistar Swedish Open at Bastad. Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet and Janko Tipsarevic became his victims at the US Open before he was beaten in the last four by Djokovic.

Ferrer won his hometown event, the Valencia Open 500, followed up with the BNP Paribas Masters and made his fourth appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, winning two of his three group matches but failing to qualify for the semi-finals.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Association of Spanish Tennis Writers, Atp, David Ferrer, deportes, noticias del tenis español, Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis news, tenis español