David Ferrer

A fighter. A sportsmanship example. A personification of the "run to get every single ball" philosophy. This, and much more, is what we've all heard about David Ferrer over the years. His great agonistic attitude, though, should never obfuscate the basics: first and foremost, technically wise, David was, and has been till the very end, an amazing tennis player and shotmaker. You don't get to be number 3 ATP, in the era of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's prime. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels (ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters 1000) except at a Grand Slam, and currently has the seventh highest career prize money earnings of all time among male tennis players. Ferrer also holds the distinction of winning the most matches on the ATP tour without having won a Grand Slam tournament, passing Brian Gottfried who held this record for 32 years.

Ferrer was born in Xàbia in the province of Alicante, but he moved to Gandia at age thirteen, followed two years later by a move to Barcelona to attend the Catalan Tennis Federation. Once, as a teenager, when Ferrer did not practice hard enough, his coach, Javier Piles, locked him in a completely dark 2m x 2m ball closet for several hours, giving him only a piece of bread and a bit of water. After this incident he was fed up with tennis and went to work at a construction site, but after a week he returned to Piles and asked if he could remain at the club and play tennis. Piles continued to coach Ferrer until they parted ways at the end of 2013. Ferrer has said he considers Piles to be like a second father to him.

Ferrer is noted for being one of the more dogged, agile, and fit players on the tour, and he has won many matches with consistent baseline play, great fitness, footspeed, and determination.

David Ferrer turned professional in 2000 and in the first years of his career, was known as a clay-court specialist, having won half of his titles on the surface. However, he has had significant success on all surfaces, having reached the final of the French Open in 2013 (without losing a set), the semifinals of the Australian and US Open twice each, and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon twice. He was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2008, 2009, and 2011. He won the Paris Masters in 2012, and he was runner-up at six Masters tournaments as well as the Tennis Masters Cup in 2007.

In the end, Ferrer would cross the path of Alexander Zverev again at his final tournament, the Madrid Masters. From 4–1 up in the first set, he lost 6–4, 6–1, thus ending his illustrious career. Ferrer announced that he would be the new director of the Barcelona Open. Albert Costa was the previous director of the tournament 11 for years. Ferrer began coaching Alexander Zverev in July of 2020 alongside Zverev's father but both have parted ways now.

Grand Slam Singles record:

Australian open: SF (2011, 2013)

French Open: F (2013)

Wimbledon: QF (2012, 2013)

US Open: SF (2007, 2012)