The players involvedJuan Carlos Ferrero and Agustin Caleri
- Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roland Garros Champion and World No.1
Juan Carlos Ferrero, “El Mosquito”, was born in 1980. Runner-up to Fernando Gonzalez Roland Garros As a junior in 1998, he rocketed up the ATP rankings, finishing his first full year on tour (1999) as world No. 43. That year he also won his first tournament in Mallorca, defeating Alex Corretia (2-6, 7-5, 6-3) in the final.
In 2000, Ferrero reached the semifinals at Roland Garros (losing to Gustavo Kuerten 7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–3) and played a decisive role in Spain’s Davis Cup victory, defeating Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt in the final. In 2001, he won his first Masters 1000 title Rome: beating Kuerten in the final (3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2), but the Brazilian stopped him for the second time in the semi-finals of the French Open.
In 2002, Ferrero reached the Roland-Garros final, but to everyone’s surprise, he lost to fellow Spaniard Albert Costa (6-1, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3). Its peak was reached in 2003; After a fresh Masters 1000 victory in Monte-Carlo, he eventually captured the Roland-Garros crown against Martin Verkerk (6-1, 6-3, 6-2). A few months later, Ferrero finished second to Andy Roddick US Open (6-3, 7-6, 6-3), a result that made him the new world no.1.
- Agustin Caleri, Argentina’s top 20 players
Agustin Caleri was born in 1976. He first entered the top 100 in 2000 after reaching the third round at Roland Garros (lost to Andrei Medvedev 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3). In 2002, he reached his first ATP final in Buenos Aires (losing to Nicos Massou 2-6, 7-6, 6-2) and finished the year in the top 50 for the first time. In 2003, he won his first ATP title in Acapulco, defeating Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta (7-5, 3-6, 6-3) in the final. In addition, he also finished runner-up at Estoril (lost to Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3) and Masters 1000 in Hamburg (lost to Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-4, 6-4). With these excellent results, he reached his highest ranking of 16th in the world in July.
The placeMalaga, Spain
The Davis Cup semi-final between Spain and Argentina was played in September 2003 in Malaga, Spain. The arena, called Palacio deportes José María Martín Carpena, opened in 1999 and had a capacity of 11,000 spectators. Its main purpose was to be the home of the local basketball team, Unica.
The factsCalleri stuns Ferrero with a century of winners
Spain were heavy favorites in the 2003 Davis Cup semi-final against Argentina, with no less than three former Roland Garros champions in the squad: Ferrero (World No. 1), Moya (World No. 6) and Costa (No. 22). Even the fourth player, Corretia, was runner-up twice at the French Open, and although he had dropped out of the top 100, he was ranked No. 2 in the world in 1999. Argentina were missing their top 10 players (No. 3 Guillermo Coria and No. 9 David Nalbandian), so down to 4 (not 1) and up to 4, Caleta. Gaudío (No. 32) will play with the Spanish Dream Team.
On the first day, everything went according to plan for the host country. Ferrero destroyed Gaudio (6-4, 6-0, 6-0) in the opener, while Moya came back from two sets down to love Zabaleta (5-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1). On the second day, Kalleri and his doubles partner Lucas Arnold Kerr gave their team some hope by defeating Costa and Corretia (6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2). Spain continued to lead the tie 2-1.
On Sunday, September 21, Kaler welcomed the world No. 1 to keep his team’s hopes alive. In those days, Ferrero was considered the best clay court player in the world. Since 2000, he has compiled a 111-25 record on clay, winning three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and went 23-3 at Roland Garros, where he was the 2003 champion. For Calleri, who had never made it past the third round of a major and whose best finish was a Masters 1000 final that year in Hamburg, the task seemed almost impossible. Terdog was given little opportunity to challenge Ferrero.
However, the world No. 1 looked a little nervous in the first round and his shots lacked their usual power. Kaleri took advantage of this situation and soon he was playing in the zone. The 27-year-old took all the risks on both wings, displaying his trademark one-handed diving backhand. After losing the first set 6-4, Ferrero tried to hold on in the second set; but although he managed to take a 5-3 lead, he was unable to seal the set. Caleri fought back and eventually broke to love in two sets (6-4, 7-5). In the third set, Callery produced such a stunning performance that the world No. 1 was not far from a 4-0 blank. The Argentine won 6-4 7-5, 6-1, winning 109 in just three sets. Argentina was still alive.
What next?Spain goes on to win a draw, lose in the final
Unfortunately for Caleri, his teammate Gaudio would lose to Moya in the final match (6-1, 6-4, 6-2 as Spain won the tie). Spain lost to Australia in the final. The 2003 season would go down as Callery’s best on tour. he would never rise higher than world number 16, and in 33 attempts he would never reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
Ferrero would only remain world No. 1 for eight weeks before being knocked off the top spot by Andy Roddick. He would leave the top 10 in September 2004 and never return. He would remain in the top 30 in the years to come, performing at his best from time to timefar from his glory years.
The Spaniard is now the coach of the Spanish teenage sensation. Carlos Alcaraz.
