ThrowbackTimes Monte Carlo: Juan Carlos Ferrero eases past Coria to defend title

In the final of Monte Carlo 2003 Monte Carlo, the crowd had a chance to watch two fine competitors on the slowest surface, with the defending champion and world no. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero taking upon Guillermo Coria. Due to bad weather, the title match had to go down to the best-of-three format for the first time since 1993 and Juan Carlos became the first player who defended the title in the Principality after Thomas Muster in 1996 following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory in just an hour and 16 minutes. It was the sixth ATP crown for the 23-year-old and his second win in as many matches against the Argentine, ousting him in the third round at Roland Garros a year earlier as well. Fererro earned his third Masters 1000 title after two tough matches against Felix Mantilla and Gaston Gaudio in round two and three, standing as the player to beat from the quarter-final after dropping only 13 games in the last three encounters to keep the trophy in his hands.

It wasn't the final that people would remember for a long time, with one-sided scoreboard and too many errors on both sides in comparison to the number of winners they hit. Coria served at 75% but that wasn't visible on the court, losing 61% of the points behind the initial shot to struggle in almost every service game, getting broken six times from 11 chances offered to the Spaniard. Ferrero tamed his shots more efficiently, dropping 42% of the points in his games and getting broken twice, enough to control the pace and cross the finish line first. Except for a few good games, Coria never found the desired rhythm, struggling to keep the pace with his rival or impose his shots in the exchanges. He stood on 40 errors in total, way too many for such a short clash while firing only ten winners, finding it difficult to create an open space and make room for his forehand. Ferrero was far more potent with his right-wing shot, making fewer mistakes than his rival to control the scoreboard all the time and celebrate the title.

Juan Carlos covered the court nicely and was forcing Coria to go for riskier shots, something he wasn't capable of producing that day, especially not after 20 errors from his forehand. The Spaniard was in front in both the shorter and more extended exchanges, playing well with his first groundstroke after the serve or return and mixing his game nicely to keep the rival behind. Unable to overpower his opponent from the baseline, Coria attempted to impose drop shots to move Ferrero from the comfort zone, which didn't work well either, struggling to find the right way to lose the grip around himself. As was expected, there were just nine service winners overall and the Spaniard had a clear edge in the winners from the field department, blasting 16 winners against only six from Guillermo. Juan Carlos used every shorter ball to impose his forehand and get in front in the exchanges, although they both had a lot of unforced errors from the stronger wing.

Coria finished the match on 24 and Ferrero added 20 (42,7% of all points ended up with an unforced error) and the Argentine also made more forced errors, 14-11. Overall, Juan Carlos had 21 winners and 32 errors while Guillermo stood on ten winners and 40 errors, unable to grab more games and prolong the match with such a poor ratio. Ferrero grabbed 24 out of 38 shortest points up to four strokes, delivering a better package of serve and the first groundstroke to create a nice advantage in that segment. He also had a slim 17-15 lead in the mid-range points with five to eight shots, dominating in the longest exchanges after winning 20 out of 33 points that hit the nine-shot mark, controlling his groundstrokes properly and finding the more efficient solutions once the rally would heat up. Ferrero opened the match with a break after three errors from Coria, cementing it with a solid hold in game two. Guillermo suffered another break in game three, spraying eight errors so far and struggling to keep his backhand safe.

It was Juan Carlos' turn to play a loose service game, giving serve away in game four after four errors, with the Argentine reducing the deficit to 3-1. Coria fended off two break points in game five with much-needed winners, holding after two mistakes from Ferrero to stay in touch in the opener. The Spaniard played well and had the upper hand in the rallies, welcoming three new errors from Coria in game six and the additional four in the next one to forge a 5-2 advantage. He won four points in a row in that eighth game, overpowering his opponent from the baseline and closing the set with his first service winner. Juan Carlos broke at the beginning of the second set with a forehand winner after a ten-shot rally, saving two break chances in the next game to earn a 2-0 lead. The Spaniard won three longer points on the return in game three and sealed another break with a forehand return winner that sent him 6-2 3-0 in front and closer to the finish line.

We finally saw some decent tennis from Coria in game four, controlling the pace in the exchanges with his backhand but making three mistakes in the next game to spoil everything he did a few minutes before, sending Ferrero 4-1 ahead with another break under his belt. Guillermo couldn't find his range in game six as well, spraying four mistakes to serve for staying in the match in the next game. He held after deuce and created a break chance in the next one, only to be denied by a forehand winner from Ferrero. A service winner delivered the victory for Juan Carlos after just 76 minutes, gaining the title much easier than he expected.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2xWRg8T