A FORMER world No 1 who has fallen to 70th may not look like the toughest opponent for Andy Murray, but the No 3 seed will be taking nothing for granted when he meets Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-final today. The 29-year-old Spaniard is the first wildcard since 2001 winner Goran Ivanisevic to get to the last eight, and is enjoying an Indian summer after years of struggling against injury.
A Real Madrid supporter and a friend of golfer Sergio Garcia, Ferrero reached the top of the rankings thanks to his prowess on clay, and was once a member of the 'grass is for cows' pressure group. As the courts here have slowed down, however, so he
has become a more difficult opponent. He beat No 10 seed Fernando Gonzalez in five sets in the third round, and followed that up on Monday with a straight-sets win over Gilles Simon, the No 8. Ferrero warmed up for Wimbledon by playing at Queen's, and reached the semi-final, where he lost to Murray in what was the pair's only previous meeting. Three weeks on, and he believes he is in better shape to challenge the Scot.
"I think right now I have a little bit more rhythm than that week," he said. "And of course after the match I played against him I learned something. That is, I have to do my job, be aggressive all the time, because he likes to play in one level, and then he changes the rhythm very fast. It is very difficult to play against him because of this. So I will try to be focused on my returns, because his serve has been very, very big.
"If I want to win, it's going to be very difficult. He's at home and he wants to win and everybody wants him to win, so it's going to be tough, as every match is."
Ferrero is playing at Wimbledon for the eighth time, and in reaching the last eight has equalled his best previous performance, in 2007. Hamstring and shoulder injuries last year were partially responsible for his slide down the rankings, from a high of 19 in April 2008 to a low of 115 two months ago.
As he said, he is now moving in the right direction again, but he is still some way off the form which saw him win one Grand Slam and become runner-up in two others.
He was runner-up to his compatriot Albert Costa at the French Open in 2002, then went one better the following year, beating Dutchman Martin Verkerk in the final. Later on in 2003 he also reached the final of the US Open, and although he lost to Andy Roddick he had done enough to claim the world No 1 spot at the end of September. At first he looked set to continue his run of fine form when he got to the semi-final of the 2004 Australian Open, but that was the last occasion he reached the last four of any slam.
