The 'Mosquito' whose sting will be missed

With Novak Djokovic lifting the season-ending ATP championship trophy last month, a landmark year on the ATP circuit came to a close. The year was marked with long awaited events. The last time when all the four Grand Slam trophies were held aloft by four different pair of hands was in 2003 and a Brit bloke had not won a Grand Slam since 1936. There were a host of high profile retirements and comebacks (read Tommy Haas), and then there was the biggest of them all - Ivan Lendl smiled for the cameras! One of those high-profile retirements came at the Valencia Open in the last week of October, from a player who incidentally , entered his name in the history books in that significant year of 2003 - Agassi won his last slam, while three players won their first. One of them went on to win 16 more slams, being labeled as the best ever to play the game, and still a threat on the circuit. The other two, did not win another major, and both retired this year from professional tennis. While Roddick hung his tennis shoes at the site of his lone major triumph at the US Open, Juan Carlos Ferrero, aka 'the mosquito', bid adieu at the tournament he owns. 

Ferrero is the player who was a major influence in drawing my interest to this beautiful game, along with Henin and Hingis. Watching this skinny lad waltzing gracefully and swiftly across the clay courts of Roland Garros, I was mesmerized at his success in a game which had begin to require brute force for success in the baseline slug fests that had come to predominate tennis. His shots were sharp and penetrative, with an aggressive, all-court game and one of the best forehands the game has ever seen. This earned him the rather unflattering nickname of "the mosquito". Shy and reserved, he was hardly the superstar the game seems to worship - the likes of Agassi, the Williams sisters - then. But still he was popular, as the countless lists on the Interet ranking ATP players based on their looks will vouch. It is interesting that both Henin and Ferrero emerged on the scene nearly at the same time.Both started out as exceptional clay courters, and went on to develop a potent all-court game. Both were champions who shied away from the spotlight, and chose to let their games do the talking. Both suffered major career falls due to injuries and illness. Its a different matter that while Henin would go on to overcome them and be counted amongst the greatest women players of all time in an attenuated career, Ferrero, who went on to play beyond the age of 30, faded into relative anonymity.

Lady luck definitely was oblivious to Ferrero's charms, considering the fact that his career was riddled with injuries just when he hit his peak after winning the French and making it to the finals at the US Open. This was coupled with the insurgence of the new wave of future superstars at the same time, including the GOAT Roger Federer, as well as Ferrero's heir, Nadal. While Ferrero led the Spanish team to its first ever Davis Cup victory, he was already anointed the king of Spanish tennis, replacing players like Moya and Corretja. However, his reign didn't last too long. Though he kept the struggle alive, making it to title matches every year, and making it to the second week of the majors more often than not, he was by now reduced to another one of the also-rans. Injuries had blunted the mosquito's  sting.

Towards the twilight of his career, Ferrero had silently started preparing for the after-tennis life, with his Luxury hotel, tennis academy and ownership stakes in the Valencia Open. He also showed signs of revival in the past 3-4 years, with better showings at the slams, and ending a 110 tournament long drought with a win at Casablanca in 2009, and impressive showing in the grass court season. Then came the 'Golden swing' in 2010, and the magician was in peak form, winning back to back titles in Brazil and Argentina, and then almost making it 3 titles in 3 weeks by reaching the final at Acapulco. This resulted in his return to the Top 15 in world, two years after he had dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since his debut. however injuries forced him out of action for the end of 2010 season and much of the first half of 2011 season. He could never bounce back fully after that, though maintaining a top 100 ranking for the most part, and finally after plenty of early round losses in 2012, he announced his retirement, attributing it to the significant time away from the game due to injuries and surgeries, as well as a lack of ambition after 14 years on tour.

Maintaining a quite dignity throughout his career, he won over millions of fans, as well as earned the respect of his peers, with Federer, Nadal, Ferrer, Roddick and many others acknowledging his place as one of the most talented and hard working players the game has seen. For Ferrer, his best friend and long time rival and nemesis, as well as Nadal, his heir he would always be the silent slayer who laid the foundations for the Spanish domination over the ATP tour.