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  • Valencia round 1: Ferrero (4) vs Safin

    4/15/08 1:02 AM | David Cox
    - It’s the marquee round 1 match-up in Valencia, the enigmatic Marat Safin against 4th seed and 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero

    Ferrero will certainly be the fresher of the two going into this, he’s had a week and a half adjusting his game to the familiar surroundings of Spanish clay (after a surprise omission from the Davis Cup team) while Safin flew into Valencia earlier today after his unlikely heroics against the Czech Republic at the weekend, coming from 2 sets down to beat Tomas Berdych on Friday

    These two are old rivals, having played no less than 11 times since 2000, 8 of those matches coming on red clay. Ferrero leads 6-5 and he’s had the better of things in recent years winning a dramatic opener in Hamburg last year 6-3, 7-6(17-15). That second set tiebreak lasted almost as long as the first set ! The Spaniard also took encounters in Monte Carlo and Hamburg back in 2005 but Safin edged arguably their most entertaining match at Roland Garros that year 7-6, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6. It was a ding-dong battle and in typically unpredictable fashion, the Russian came up with one of the most bizarre celebrations ever, ripping off his shorts to the delight of the crowd

    Who knows which Safin will turn up today ?? It’s really anyone’s guess, before Friday’s win over Berdych, he’d won only 1 match all year. At his best clay is a great surface for him, he’s got one of the best kick serves in the game (particularly the 2nd serve). When he first burst into the tennis elite he was always considered a major threat at Roland Garros, picking up two titles on the dirt and making the Hamburg masters series final twice

    However, even if Safin comes out tomorrow playing his best tennis of the year, I’d have to pick Ferrero to win. Valencia is one of the slowest clay tournaments on the circuit which will suit him more and Safin has not been particularly complimentary about the courts in the past - the breezy conditions cause the topsurface to gather in clumps and create variable bounce which has led to more than a few smashed rackets. Not only that but as a former French Open champion, there is nowhere Ferrero feels more at home than on a clay court. He’s looked in fine form on hard at times this year and could be an unexpected threat to the elite over the next 6 weeks.

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