Juan Carlos Ferrero retires

Juan Carlos Ferrero emotionally retires from tennis after Valencia Open

Juan Carlos Ferrero retires

Former world number one and French Open 2003 Grand Slam winner, Juan Carlos Ferrero has retired after 14 glorious years as a professional tennis player playing in ATP World tour tournaments. Ferrero announced last month that he was going to retire from professional tennis at his home tournament, the Valencia Open even if he lost in the first round, which unfortunately happened. The match-up was Ferrero against his good friend and fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the first round and Ferrero was not expected to defeat the sixth seed.

The tennis match ended 7-5 6-3 in Almagro’s favour despite him having a slight discomfort in his shoulder late in the second set, which he shrugged off and sealed the victory. The match between two Spanish friends was an entertaining battle in which the pair exchanged smiles and jokes throughout. When the match ended, the two players embraced at the net with the tears brewing in Ferrero’s eyes whilst the crowd gave him an emotional ovation before he threw his racquet, shirt and some personal items into the crowd to thank them for supporting him on his journey as a professional tennis player.

Ferrero said after the match, “This is a very special week, a very emotional week. Today on court it was very emotional, but it’s been very emotional since the tournament started. When I first saw the draw, I was really not happy because he was one of the few players I didn’t want to play. We’re best friends, we practise together, and Nico is also trying to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. I was really not happy, but then, the nice side of it is that I played my last match against a very important person for me, a great friend.”

Ferrero has retired now from his singles career, but he will play in the doubles part of the Valencia Open alongside Ferrer on Wednesday afternoon and after that match, there will be an official send-off for Ferrero with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Alex Corretja, Carlos Moya, Albert Costa and golfer Sergio Garcia all attending.

Author Daniel Foster.
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