Ferrero the Weakest Spanish Link in Davis Cup Final; Hingis Coming Out of Retirement

Ferrero would have to have his worst day, and Roddick his best, for the American to record a best-of-five set win over a former Roland Garros champion.

And such a Spanish nightmare could very well happen.

"He has always beaten us, but on fast surfaces," said Ferrero of Roddick's record against Spaniards, speaking to the sports daily Marca. "Now we will be on clay, which is our surface...He is a complicated player for us. I have only played him once, and I lost, in the 2003 final of the US Open."

Ferrero began the year strong with a semifinal at the Australian Open (l. to Federer) and a runner-up effort at Rotterdam (l. to Hewitt), but beginning in April the Spaniard was struck with what would become a series of injuries and illnesses that stole his confidence and left his game in shambles. After a devastating second-round loss at Roland Garros, Ferrero advanced only once out of the second round at an event during the remaining five months of tour play.

His loss at the Masters Series-Madrid in October to the unheralded Luis "Me So" Horna convinced Ferrero that his regular-tour season was over, and his time would be better spent preparing for the Davis Cup final on the welcoming red clay.

Adding to Ferrero's crisis of confidence is a late-season switch to a new racquet, which has turned out to be a not-so-easy transition at that. But now with some substantial time on the clay practice courts, the wiry "Mosquito" says things are coming around.

"I have been training for more than two weeks on claycourts and have been working especially hard on building up my resistance so as to last five sets which has included weight sessions in the gym," Ferrero said. "In the last few days I have toned it down a stage so I won't be tired in the games. Before I was mentally tired and needed a break, to play more would not make much of a difference in the rankings and it was more important to prepare myself for the Davis Cup. I am now feeling a lot better with my new racket and have more confidence."

The super-slow-engineered court and the low altitude of Seville will further aid Ferrero, but it is hard to believe the former No. 1 could shake off his worst year by simply hitting the treadmill and practicing with a new stick. Ferrero's problem is in his head. The pressure of 26,000 screaming Spaniards and facing an opponent (in Roddick) he has never beaten will add to the grand test of Ferrero's mental state on day one.

Unless of course he draws Mardy Fish, with the No. 2 American putting up a 0-1 claycourt win-loss this year, after going 4-6 in 2003 on the dirt, and 4-3 in 2002 (at the challenger level).

Ferrero has already this week alluded to the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd.

"I've only played a couple of times before 23,000 fans, and that was in the US Open," Ferrero said. "A crowd that size you really notice. You go out trying to play like always, but with size of the crowd -- and this time a home crowd -- it can make you nervous."

Ferrero reportedly has yet another problem to deal with after a week's worst of claycourt practice -- a blister on his right thumb.

It remains to be seen whether Roddick can maintain his trademark swagger in front of a record crowd for a pro tennis event estimated at 26,600. The Spanish Tennis Federation has spent approximately $8 million on the event as a whole, including constructing the covered claycourt.

"It will be a very humbling experience to play in front of that many people," Roddick said Tuesday. "Having said I need patience, I will still have to play my game and do what I do well. I have to stick to my weapons, which is hitting big shots."

While oddsmakers are calculating the number of sets Fish will get bageled, the American is optimistic on his chances.

"We've all got pretty good records against the Spaniards (on hardcourts) and hopefully we can carry that over," Fish said. "But it's tough to look a lot at records. You kind of throw everything out in the Davis Cup."

The Spaniards, who have already thrown out Fish as a threat, now focus their strategy on the big-hitting Roddick and the French Open champ Bryan brothers.

Spaniards Pulling Up the Toilets for Seville Davis Cup

Spanish co-captains Juan Avendano and Jordi Arrese are pulling on the memories of their 2002 quarterfinal Davis Cup loss to the U.S. in Houston for the upcoming final in Seville.

Played at former Masters Cup promoter Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale's Westside Tennis Club on grass, Avendano and Arrese house bitter memories of their treatment during the tie.

"They treated us very badly there and the Americans' way of acting was not what we were expecting," Avendano said.

The former tour player Arrese agreed.

"I have been in the Davis Cup for 20 years as a player and now as captain and I have never been treated as badly as we were treated in Houston," Arrese said. "They acted as if they thought they were the kings of the world, the people at the club were awful towards us and the U.S. team did nothing to stop it. We didn't even have showers in our dressing rooms, while they had jacuzzis. We even had trouble finding somewhere to go to the toilet."

The final this weekend between Spain and the U.S. will be played at the Seville Olympic Stadium, where hopefully the U.S. squad can get a porta-potty brought in.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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