[The Bulldog]

David Ferrer seems to divide opinion a lot these days. Since he's solidified himself as a top ten player, and made the number five ranking his own, general tennis fans have become more accustomed to seeing him on the stadium court at the crucial stages of the biggest tournaments around the world. He seems to be loved by a few, and respected by many for his hard work and dedication to tennis. On the other hand an increasing number of people are growing impatient at his lack of threat in the important matches against players ranked higher than him, and his style which is relentlessly intense and effective, if a bit repetitive.

So my question for you all is, why don't other top pros take a leaf out of Ferrer's book and work harder on fitness, put more hours in on the practice court, and finally discover a more balanced mentality?

Let me take you back a number of years. Ferrer had a brief spell in the top ten, when he reached the US Open semi-finals in 2007 and the Year-End Championship final as well. He was still a bit of a hothead back then, often getting very angry at himself when things weren't going his way. Unsurprisingly, Ferrer's level of play dropped a lot after a spell of success, and his ranking dipped so much that for periods in 2009, it looked as of he might drop out of the top twenty for good. The best was still to come from Ferrer, though.

In 2010, Ferrer's fortunes turned around for good. He started to perform well at the majority of tournaments he played in, displaying a more determined attitude. Since then, with remarkable consistency, he's remained a top ten player, and I'm sure most Ferrer supporters will agree with me when I say that it has been more due to his physical and mental strengths, rather than any improved technical aspects of his game.

He is living proof that a modestly talented player can achieve a lot with structure, organisation and a hell of a lot of work.

So why don't players like Berdych, Del Potro and Tsonga at least take a leaf out of Ferrer's book? The trio aforementioned would far outclass Ferrer if they were a little more tactically astute, well disciplined & bold.

So is it a matter of laziness, lack of motivation to dedicate more than they do to tennis or something else?

[Roger the Dodger]

I think ball bashers are more mentally fragile than the defensive-grinding type of player overall. It would be great if these immensely talented players like Berdych and Tsonga actually disciplined their shotmaking a bit more, and choked less. Would benefit tennis immensely and would see Ferrer out of the top 5 (but within top 10 where he rightfully belongs).

[cveks]

nothing new.

[J99]

Can't deny that he has improved his tennis game though, very ungifted player who has had to work hard on improving and keeping his level.

[alter ego]

Originally Posted by Chase Visa

I don't think you should really speculate about that....

No speculation, just facts. Google them if you don't believe me.
http://www.itftennis.com/antidoping/...rticleid=23575

[Trollicki]

Originally Posted by The Bulldog

(...)
He is living proof that a modestly talented player can achieve a lot with structure, organisation and a hell of a lot of work.

So why don't players like Berdych, Del Potro and Tsonga at least take a leaf out of Ferrer's book? The trio aforementioned would far outclass Ferrer if they were a little more tactically astute, well disciplined & bold.

So is it a matter of laziness, lack of motivation to dedicate more than they do to tennis or something else?

Say Tsonga, Berdych and Delpo were to work as hard during training as Ferrer and they learned to be as organised, would that increase their tactical astuteness, boldness and discipline as you state in the next paragraph? I am not sure that is the case. It would help them of course if they had more stamina and better discipline, things one might learn by training relentlessly. Heck, by having more stamina they would not have the need to play as many low percentage shots as they do now, enabling them to choose their moments better. Still, tactical awareness and boldness, not to mention the respective deficits each of their games has can only be remedied if they are helped by the right coaching. Why, Tsonga has shown in these two weeks that a short time with Rasheed has gone some way in ameliorating his BH.

In summation: it´s not just the motivation they need to make that transition, but good structural guidance as well.

[Han Solo]

Originally Posted by alter ego

No speculation, just facts. Google them if you don't believe me.
http://www.itftennis.com/antidoping/...rticleid=23575

The link between a known doping doctor working at a tennis academy in Valencia and players like Errani (her camp have unwittingly confirmed she was treated by this doctor) and Ferrer who have trained there is somewhat disturbing.

[Mountaindewslave]

Originally Posted by The Bulldog

David Ferrer seems to divide opinion a lot these days. Since he's solidified himself as a top ten player, and made the number five ranking his own, general tennis fans have become more accustomed to seeing him on the stadium court at the crucial stages of the biggest tournaments around the world. He seems to be loved by a few, and respected by many for his hard work and dedication to tennis. On the other hand an increasing number of people are growing impatient at his lack of threat in the important matches against players ranked higher than him, and his style which is relentlessly intense and effective, if a bit repetitive.

So my question for you all is, why don't other top pros take a leaf out of Ferrer's book and work harder on fitness, put more hours in on the practice court, and finally discover a more balanced mentality?

Let me take you back a number of years. Ferrer had a brief spell in the top ten, when he reached the US Open semi-finals in 2007 and the Year-End Championship final as well. He was still a bit of a hothead back then, often getting very angry at himself when things weren't going his way. Unsurprisingly, Ferrer's level of play dropped a lot after a spell of success, and his ranking dipped so much that for periods in 2009, it looked as of he might drop out of the top twenty for good. The best was still to come from Ferrer, though.

In 2010, Ferrer's fortunes turned around for good. He started to perform well at the majority of tournaments he played in, displaying a more determined attitude. Since then, with remarkable consistency, he's remained a top ten player, and I'm sure most Ferrer supporters will agree with me when I say that it has been more due to his physical and mental strengths, rather than any improved technical aspects of his game.

He is living proof that a modestly talented player can achieve a lot with structure, organisation and a hell of a lot of work.

So why don't players like Berdych, Del Potro and Tsonga at least take a leaf out of Ferrer's book? The trio aforementioned would far outclass Ferrer if they were a little more tactically astute, well disciplined & bold.

So is it a matter of laziness, lack of motivation to dedicate more than they do to tennis or something else?

uhhh the reason is that their games are higher risk, Ferrer is a pure defender who is content (and frankly only can) defend defend defend and hope that his opponent hits errors. against lesser opponents sometimes David plays more aggressively and hones in on winners but the fact is that everyone else in the top 10 has weapons so he just reflects the ball over and over. he actually reminds me of what Novak Djokovic would be if he had no weapons, because Ferrer is an amazing defender but unfortunately he has NO kill shots

I'd rather the other players up there like Tsonga/Berdych etc play risky tennis than try to play a conservative game like Ferrer BUT even if they wanted to it would be to no avail because they aren't as fast/good at defending

Ferrer's game works for him because he's one of the best movers on tour but as we saw last night, he fails when he plays an opponent who moves similarly well + has weapons

[Kat_YYZ]

Originally Posted by cveks

nothing new.

hilarious comment from someone who posts 56 comments about Federer's shoes.

[Kat_YYZ]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewslave

uhhh the reason is that their games are higher risk, Ferrer is a pure defender who is content (and frankly only can) defend defend defend and hope that his opponent hits errors. against lesser opponents sometimes David plays more aggressively and hones in on winners but the fact is that everyone else in the top 10 has weapons so he just reflects the ball over and over. he actually reminds me of what Novak Djokovic would be if he had no weapons, because Ferrer is an amazing defender but unfortunately he has NO kill shots

I'd rather the other players up there like Tsonga/Berdych etc play risky tennis than try to play a conservative game like Ferrer BUT even if they wanted to it would be to no avail because they aren't as fast/good at defending

Ferrer's game works for him because he's one of the best movers on tour but as we saw last night, he fails when he plays an opponent who moves similarly well + has weapons

well, Djokovic is a good example of a top player who improved his fitness and mental concentration. I don't consider Djokovic a pure defender with no weapons, but he benefited greatly by making his defense rock-solid and taking the "running out of gas" problem out of the equation.

[Caesar1844]

Ferrer is a pure percentage tennis player. He doesn't defend exclusively, but he only attacks when he has a high percentage chance of it coming off. As a result he pretty much always beats the players he should beat - but by the same token his lack of imagination and predictability means he has zero chance of beating players significantly better than he is.

Guys like Tsonga and Berdych could learn a lot from Ferrer when it comes to being less streaky. But equally, Ferrer could learn a lot from Tsonga and Berdych when it comes to playing guys significantly better than you. In those matches you have to take risks, go for the low percentage shots, back yourself to play a game that shouldn't work and maybe sometimes it does.

I think someone like Djokovic is a pretty good mix of the two. I mean sure, he's a lot more talented than Ferrer, but his default game is very Ferrer-like. But unlike Ferrer, he also has the confidence to go for the big shots. He plays safe when it is smart, but he also sees where the safe option is not going to work - and he has to the audacity to risk the low percentage play and live or die by the sword.

Sometimes you've just got to put it all on black, spin the wheel and hope for the best.

[djokovicgonzalez]

Ferrer got better at not choking to lower players, but even worse when he played top players between his first time at #4 and his second. Unfortunately, he also seems to have gotten better at choking to top players (He has played Murray three times in a Slam in the last 2 seasons. Once, he won. The other two times he missed set points for 2 sets to love and lost in 4)

Ferrer isn't a great #5, but he deserves it more than Tsonga (Who NEVER beats other top 10 players in the past year), Berdych (Worse record against 2 of the top 4 and many more early losses) and del Potro (Just lost to Chardy in a Slam ffs, hasn't made SF in Slam in the last year)

[pray-for-palestine-and-israel]

David deserves his position

Monaco deserved his too

[dencod16]

Originally Posted by djokovicgonzalez

Ferrer got better at not choking to lower players, but even worse when he played top players between his first time at #4 and his second. Unfortunately, he also seems to have gotten better at choking to top players (He has played Murray three times in a Slam in the last 2 seasons. Once, he won. The other two times he missed set points for 2 sets to love and lost in 4)

Ferrer isn't a great #5, but he deserves it more than Tsonga (Who NEVER beats other top 10 players in the past year), Berdych (Worse record against 2 of the top 4 and many more early losses) and del Potro (Just lost to Chardy in a Slam ffs, hasn't made SF in Slam in the last year)

I think Murray shouldn't be included, Ferrer can take on Murray without feeling he is an underling.

It's funny that he is still improving despite his age, he takes his chance, when he sees a short ball he hits it, he also comes into the net more than most players, though he tends to decrease it as the match goes by. People like players taking a swing at a low percentage shot and think that is tennis. Sorry but part of tennis is thinking.

[Topspindoctor]

Looking forward to Lenders' opinion.