Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer battled for a spot in the Madrid 2003 Masters title match. The Spaniard prevailed in the clash of the year’s number 1 contenders, beating the Swiss 6-4, 4-6 and 6- 4 in one hour and 52 minutes to stay on the title track.
The crowd favorite won one more point than the Wimbledon champion, lost serve once and hit two breaks to emerge victorious. The Swiss was the more aggressive player, with more winners and unforced errors.
Federer had a slight lead in the shorter rallies, but lost ground in the longer ones to end up losing. The Spaniard had a break in the fifth game of the first set and gave up two points after the opening shot to control the score and make it 6-4.
Federer took the lead in the second set, serving well and earning a break at 15 in the tenth game to bring in a decider and build momentum. However, Ferrero played at a higher level and got a break after a forehand return winner in the fifth game.
The Spaniard served well in the remaining games and held on after the deuce at 5-4 to seal the deal and score valuable points. “Today I wasn’t happy with my game. I had some good moments, but in the others it was full of ups and downs.
I checked the game, not Juan Carlos; I took risks and made too many mistakes. My comeback was awful in the first set. His serve could be improved, I don’t know, but it worked well for him today.
It was hard for me to pick up the pace and read his report. Things improved in the second and third sets, but not enough to cross the finish line first.”
Federer talks about working with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway
During the same interview, Roger Federer discussed two commercials he had starred in alongside Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway for Swiss Tourism.
“Those commercials got on my nerves, because the good thing about Robert De Niro is, first of all, I can’t believe he did it, which in itself was a win. I’m a huge fan. he shot the first.
And then I could only act on what he did. And of course I could do a hundred takes if I had to. And there was no pressure, and he wasn’t there,” Federer commented.
“But Anne Hathway, on the other hand, was sitting next to me when I was making the announcement. The director told me I usually shot in one piece. I had no idea of any of the lines. So they created all these teleprompter for me, so I could read from them.
And then the camera would move in front of the teleprompter. And I would have chased the text. However, I have improved over time. And Anne was super sweet. She couldn’t have been nicer to me.”
The Swiss said goodbye to professional tennis this year at the Laver Cup, where he was accompanied by Rafael Nadal in his last match as an active player on the circuit. Now, Federer has expressed his happiness for him in the post-match era, confessing that he was afraid of this phase of his life.
