Players formerly known as Champions (now ranked between 20 - 10000000) : Juan Carlos Ferrero

Sometimes I see Juan Carlos Ferrero on the last court practicing, and I remember that he had always been quiet but his hype and fan base hadn't been. Jon Wertheim at si.com talked about seeing him unheralded on court 18. I saw that too, and couldn't help but remember that he had once reached at least the semis at the French for four years in a row (including at his debut). In 2003, he became number one, reached the Aussie quarters after the Sydney final, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon (losing in five sets to Grosjean, not bad for a "clay-courter,") He also won two Masters titles and reached the US Open final, where I was even surprised to see him walking after how much tennis he played to get that far.

So he had a dream year with so much potential, and now he's sorta wandering around the top 20. (And note that he hasn't won a title since 2003.) It seemed to fall into nothing out of nowhere: 0-3 in the Masters Cup. He seemed to rebound in Australia and Rotterdam.

And then the deadly disease: chicken pox.

It does sound a little pathetic, I think, no offense to JCF or anything. It would be one thing trace a demise back to say, the plague or anthrax. We didn't laugh when Tommy Haas dealt with his family's motorcycle accident or when Guga Kuerten hurt his hip. But the chicken pox? I had that, and sat in a tub of tomato juice and watched television for a couple weeks. George fucking Washington had pockmarks and then he became president. But Ferrero got it and flunked out of tennis.

The pox among other things too, I'm sure. But I just think its funny to talk about his deadly battle with the plague and disease and starvation. Ooops, I mean his fight against the POX.

But he was good, and I think he could have been the second coming of the Guga Messiah. But then Rafael Nadal showed up and Spain left him behind to quietly practice unheralded and alone.

I still support him. I think he deserves it, just for being an all-round good guy. I've seen him be really kind and patient fans, and didn't he once make out with Alex Corretja?


EDIT: i want to thank the person that shot and took the time to put this on the internet.















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