Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (Spanish pronunciation:[xwaŋˈkaɾlosfeˈreɾoðoˈnat];[a] born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1tennis player and current tennis coach. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he held for eight weeks. He was runner-up at the 2002 French Open and 2003 US Open and won 16 ATP Tour titles, including four Masters events. He was nicknamed "Mosquito" for his speed and slender physical build. Ferrero retired from professional tennis following the 2012 Valencia Open.[1] He has since been a tennis coach to two-time ATP Finals champion and Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev, and to US Open, French Open and Wimbledon champion and world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Personal life
Nicknamed Juanki,[2] JC, and "El Mosquito",[3] Ferrero began playing tennis at age seven with his father, Eduardo Ferrero Micó (1943–2022), who often traveled with him.[4] He has two sisters, Ana and Laura, and admires the play of former No. 1 Jim Courier. Ferrero's inspiration has been his mother, Rosario, who died of cancer in 1996, when he was 16. In July 2007, he bought an old cottage in Bocairent, south of Valencia, and refurbished it into "Hotel Ferrero", which features 12 luxury suites.[5] He used to be a joint owner of the Valencia Open tournament together with fellow tennis player David Ferrer. His fitness trainer was Miguel Maeso, and he was coached by Antonio Martínez Cascales (from 1989) and Salvador Navarro (from May 2008). He and his wife had their first child, a daughter, in September 2014.[6] The couple married in July 2015.[7] They have had two more children since.[8]
Playing style and equipment
Although Ferrero was known as a good clay court player during his prime, he distinguished himself as an all-court and all-round player through his solid performance on hard- and grass-court tournaments. He said during an interview that he preferred playing on hard courts. Tennis experts agreed that Ferrero's clay-court game translated well to the hard court due to his aggressive style of playing. He also had one of the greatest forehands in the game and immense speed on the court. He was sponsored by Nike,[9]Sergio Tacchini,[10] and Lotto Sport Italia for his apparel on court. In 2010, he signed an endorsement deal with Joma[11] He uses Lacoste (since 2012) for his clothes, Asics for shoes and Prince Sports for his racquets. He played with a Prince EXO3 Tour 100 Mid+ (16x18) racquet.[12]
Career
Early years
Born in Ontinyent, Ferrero came to prominence in 1998, making the final of the French Open Juniors, losing to Fernando González. He finished the year ranked as the No. 17 junior. He then made his professional debut in 1998 by reaching the finals of his first Futures tournament in Italy. He won two Futures events in Spain, and ended the year ranked No. 345.
1999
He made his first ATP main draw debut at the Grand Prix Hassan II as a qualifier, where he reached the semi-finals. He followed it up by winning a Challenger events in Naples. He then received a wildcard at the Open Seat Godó and reached the third round losing to Carlos Moyá. He reached back–to–back finals, marking his top 100 debut at no. 95. He then reached his fourth challenger final of the year at Graz losing Tomáš Zíb.[13] He then played at the Generali Open, where he earned his first top 20 win in the second round against No. 15 Tommy Haas, before losing in the quarterfinals. He made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open in August, losing to ninth seeded Greg Rusedski in the first round. The following month, in just his fifth professional event, he won his first career title at the Majorca Open, which propelled him from No. 68 to 47. He ended the year at No. 43 and won the ATP Newcomer of the Year award.
At the European clay season, Ferrero made it to back–to–back quarterfinals at the Estoril Open and his first masters quarterfinals at the Monte Carlo Open, losing to Nicolás Lapentti and Gastón Gaudio respectively. He made it to his second final of the year at the Torneo Godó losing to Marat Safin. By doing so, Ferrero entered the top 20 for the first time at No. 18. At the final Masters series of the clay court swing, Ferrero didn't fare well, losing to lower ranked opponent. He made the third round of the Italian Open losing to Mariano Puerta and second round of the German Open losing to Andrei Pavel. However, he bounced back by reaching the semifinals of his first French Open after defeating No. 10 Àlex Corretja before losing to the eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten in five sets. He then chose not to compete at Wimbledon.
He began the European clay season by winning the Estoril Open in an all–Spanish final, defeating Félix Mantilla. This placed him at No. 9 in the world, his top 10 debut. Despite suffering an early exit at the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters to Galo Blanco, he recovered by making it to three consecutive finals. Winning his first two at the Open SEAT Godó defeating Carlos Moyá, and his first Masters title at the Rome Masters defeating Gustavo Kuerten, his first win over a No. 1-ranked opponent. He lost the third final at the Hamburg Masters losing to Albert Portas. He then followed his success by reaching the semifinals after defeating Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets at the French Open for the second consecutive year, losing again to the No. 1 seed, defending champion, and eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten in straight sets. In his first Wimbledon, he was able to reach the third round losing to Britain's Greg Rusedski in straight sets.
He bounced back at the Monte Carlo Masters to reach the finals, where he earned his first top-10 wins of the year against Tommy Haas and Sébastien Grosjean, and he defeated Carlos Moyá in straight sets in the final to win the title. However, he was unable to keep his form, losing to Alberto Martín at the third round at Torneo Godó, losing to Ivan Ljubičić in the second round of Rome Masters, and the first round of the Hamburg Masters to Alberto Costa. These results made him fall out of the top 10 for the first time in a year. At the 2002 French Open, Ferrero reached his first Grand Slam final after upsetting No. 4 Andre Agassi in four sets and No. 2 Marat Safin in straight sets. Despite being the strong favourite, he lost to compatriot Albert Costa in four sets. His foot was injured during the tournament, and he played through, taking some cortisone shots.
In August he qualified for Rogers Cup, beating Lleyton Hewitt in the first round in straight sets, ending Hewitt's three–match winning streak against him. He then defeated 13th seed Gaël Monfils, [27] in the pair's first meeting, before losing to Andy Murray once again, in straight sets. He lost in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters to Marin Čilić. At the US Open, he defeated Fabrice Santoro in the first round in Santoro's last US Open match. In the second round against Philipp Petzschner, Ferrero mounted a remarkable comeback from two sets down for the third time in his career to win in five sets. He went on to defeat No. 9 seed, when Gilles Simon retired with a right knee injury, but lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets. Ferrero climbed impressively into the top 20, having been ranked No. 115 just 5 months before. In his first tournament after the US Open at the China Open, he lost to Fernando Verdasco in the second round, after defeating Nicolás Almagro. He competed in the Shanghai Masters, where he missed being seeded by one ranking position. He was crushed in the first round by 13th seed Radek Štěpánek, winning only 7 points in the second set. He also lost in the first round of the Stockholm Open to Marcos Baghdatis. He then competed in the Valencia Open but made an early exit to Pablo Cuevas in the first round in a three–set battle, after serving for the set at 5–3 in the second set. He ended the year at No. 23, which was 32 spots higher than the previous year and won his first title in 6 years.
2010
Ferrero had a bad start to the 2010 season. Ferrero began the year at the Heineken Open, where he retired against Michael Lammer with an injury trailing 1–3 in the second round. At the Australian Open, he lost to Ivan Dodig, after being two sets to love up and seemingly cruising to victory. At Brasil Open he earned his first win of the season against Eduardo Schwank. He then defeated Nicolás Massú (despite failing to serve out the match 5–4 in the second set), Carlos Berlocq in the quarterfinals and Ricardo Mello in the semifinals. In the final, he crushed Łukasz Kubot in 61 minutes, conceding one of his services games but in turn, breaking all of his opponent's service games.[28] At the Copa Telmex, he won against top seed David Ferrer in the final, after defeating Juan Mónaco in the semifinals. This was his second title in a row and extended his winning streak to 10. The tournament victory also raised his ranking to No. 16. At the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco, he had comfortable victories over qualifier Diego Junqueira and Igor Andreev. He defeated defending champion Nicolás Almagro in three sets in the quarterfinals, not facing any break points in the first and third sets and being broken only once. He defeated Juan Mónaco in the semifinals, when the Argentinian retired with an abdominal strain after losing the first set 7–5. Ferrero faced David Ferrer in his third straight final and lost in three sets. Both players admitted that Ferrero's fatigue played a major role in the final set.[29] This ended his 14-match winning streak. Despite the loss, he rose to No. 14 in the world, the first time he was ranked that high since 11 October 2004, when he was ranked 13th.
He defeated Daniel Köllerer in the second round of BNP Paribas Open, earning his first hard-court victory of the season, losing only eight points on serve. He then faced Juan Mónaco in the third round, losing a match that lasted over three hours. At the Sony Ericsson Open, he made the round of 16, losing easily to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after defeating John Isner and Daniel Köllerer. At the Monte Carlo Masters, he defeated Marcel Granollers, Benjamin Becker and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga {earning his first victory over the Frenchman). He, however, lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals. At the Barcelona Open, Ferrero was upset by Thiemo de Bakker in the third round. At the Rome Masters, his form worsened as he surprisingly slumped to a loss to qualifier Santiago Giraldo in the first round. Ferrero went into the French Open seeded 16th and tipped by some to make a good run in the tournament. He defeated Pablo Cuevas in straight sets and Pere Riba in four sets. However, he was upset in the third round by Robby Ginepri. After coming back from a two-set deficit and being a break of serve up in the decider, Ferrero lost in the fifth set.
Ferrero's next tournament was the US Open, where he defeated Pablo Andújar in the first round in five sets. In the second round, he defeated Frenchman Gaël Monfils in an electrifying five-set match. Marcel Granollers then retired in the second set against Ferrero. In the fourth round, he lost to Janko Tipsarević in four sets. His next tournament was the 2011 China Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He then played at the Shanghai Masters reaching the third round, falling to good friend David Ferrer after having wasted three match points in the second set. His next tour stop was the Valencia Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Mónaco. The final tournament of the year was the Paris Masters, where he lost in the first round to Nicolas Mahut.
Ferrero began his 2012 season with a loss to Benoît Paire in Sydney. His next tournament was the 2012 Australian Open, where he made an early exit in the first round to Viktor Troicki after a hard-fought five-set match, in which he failed to convert a match point in the fourth set. After the match, Ferrero was fined $1,500 by the organization of the Australian Open for "audible obscenities" during the match.[32] Ferrero represented Spain in the Davis Cup vs. Kazakhstan defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in five sets. He then played a disappointing Golden Swing in Latin America losing three times in his opening matches. At the Brasil Open he lost to Leonardo Mayer, at the Copa Claro he lost to Kei Nishikori and at Abierto Mexicano Telcel to Stanislas Wawrinka. He then missed 3 months due to a wrist injury. Ferrero returned at the Mutua Madrid Open losing in the first round to qualifier Igor Andreev. His next tournament was the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. In the first round, Ferrero beat Kevin Anderson; recording his 2nd win in the year. In the second round, he beat Gaël Monfils. However, in the third round, he fell to Roger Federer in 3 sets. After Rome, Ferrero played at Open de Nice Côte d'Azur. In the first round, he beat Robin Haase after saving a match point. In the second round, he fell to Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets. In Roland Garros, his next tournament, Juan won the first match against the French Wildcard player Jonathan Dasnières de Veigy. In the second round, he lost to Marin Čilić in straight sets. After this, Ferrero did not play at any tournament, preferring to go straight to Wimbledon, where he lost in the 1st round in straight sets to defending champion and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic.[33] He then lost in the first round of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open Umag. Ferrero announced on 12 September 2012, that he would officially retire from professional tennis after the Valencia Open 500 in October. He stated that "The Valencia Open 500 will be my last tournament, it's the best possible stage for me to retire. Because of injuries, I was not able to play a full season and it's been a complicated year as I could see I didn't have the same ambition after 14 years on the tour."[1] His final match was in the first round of Valencia, losing to Nicolás Almagro in straight sets.
2017
In 2017 it was announced that Ferrero would make a return to the ATP World Tour, playing in the Barcelona doubles draw alongside Pablo Carreño Busta.[34] However, this would be his only tournament, and they would lose in the first round.[35][36]
Davis Cup
Ferrero made his Davis Cup debut for Spain in the quarterfinals match-up against Russia in 2000 and won both his matches against Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin in straight sets. He played in the semifinals, this time against the American Vince Spadea, and won in three sets, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4. His impressive Davis Cup form continued when he defeated Australians Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt in Barcelona, enabling Spain to capture the Davis Cup for the first time. In 2001, Spain fell to the Netherlands, and Ferrero lost his first match against Raemon Sluiter, losing two tie-breakers and winning one. He made up for this loss, however, when Spain competed in the qualifying rounds for the Davis Cup World Group, by defeating Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in straight sets.
Ferrero continued to be a key Davis Cup player in subsequent years. In both 2003 and 2004, Ferrero contributed to Spain's successive progress to the Davis Cup final.[37] In 2004, Spain won the Davis Cup for the second time. In 2009, Ferrero won the fifth and decisive rubber against Andreas Beck of Germany, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4, in the quarterfinals,[38] putting Spain through to the semifinal. In the semifinal Ferrero won the second rubber against Israel, 6–4, 6–2, 6–0,[39] putting Spain on track to win the Davis Cup for the second consecutive year, the first nation to do so since Sweden in 1998.[37] As Nadal returned from injury to play the final for Spain, Ferrero was not selected to Spain's final team. He attended all the live rubbers to support his teammates during the first two days of the Davis Cup final as a reserve player. He was not included in the 2009 Davis Cup presentation ceremony and celebrations on the final day.[40]
Coaching career
In July 2017,[41] Ferrero started working as a tennis coach of then-world No. 11 Alexander Zverev. Their work ended in February 2018 due to rumoured differences between them.[42]
In 2019, Ferrero began coaching 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, a fellow Spaniard. As of 9 June 2024, their partnership has produced fourteen tournament wins on the ATP Tour, including four major titles - the 2022 US Open, the Gentleman's singles title at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships and 2024 Wimbledon Championships and the Men's singles title at 2024 French Open at Roland Garros. Under Ferrero, Alcaraz has won five Masters 1000 titles - Miami & Madrid in 2022, Indian Wells & Madrid in 2023, and Indian Wells in 2024. As well as the aforementioned titles, Juan Carlos Ferrero also coached Carlos Alcaraz to become World Number 1 - the youngest player in the history of tennis to reach the summit of the official tennis rankings. Their main training base is at the Ferrero Tennis Academy in Alicante, southern Spain.[43]