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Happy and healthy Ferrero blows by Koubek in first-round match
PARIS (Reuters) -- Juan Carlos Ferrero shrugged off doubts about his fitness with a sparkling 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Austria's Stefan Koubek in the first round of the French Open on Monday. But the classy Spaniard, who missed last week's World Team Cup in Duesseldorf with a groin strain, admitted he was grateful to have completed his win in just an hour and 43 minutes. "I feel fine but I did just suffer a drop towards the end of the game," the No. 4 seed said after a contest played in blisteringly hot conditions. "The sun was fierce and I think I might have eaten a bit too much before the game, which made me feel a little heavy. "The first rounds of these tournaments are always hard so I'm pleased I didn't make too many mistakes. "I passed the first test with a good score." Ferrero, who next faces Ivan Ljubicic or Marcos Ondruska, was certainly worth his win over Koubek, who was unable to deal with his opponent's flashing ground strokes. The Spaniard, who has three claycourt titles to his credit this season, wrapped up the first two sets in 30 minutes each and led 4-1, with two breaks of serve, in the third. Koubek got one break back for 3-4 and Ferrero then needed a bandage on his left foot to be re-applied before returning to hold serve and clinch victory on his sixth match point. "It was just a blister that was giving me problems," said Ferrero. "The tape was badly placed but when I had it changed it was fine. "Before the tournament I had a muscle problem that meant I couldn't play last week. "But I took four days off without doing anything and on Friday and Saturday I was back in training. "Physically, I now feel good." If he can maintain his fitness, Ferrero is tipped as the man most likely to challenge Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten, who opened the defense of his title with an equally impressive 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory over Guillermo Coria. "I saw Kuerten's game and he played very well," said Ferrero, who lost to the Brazilian in the semifinal at Roland Garros last year. "Not every game is the same, though, and all you can do at this stage of the tournament is try to win your matches in three sets to conserve strength."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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