Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer battled for a spot in the 2003 Madrid Masters title match. The Spaniard prevailed in the clash of the year’s number 1 contenders, beating the Swiss 6-4, 4-6 and 6-4 in one hour and 52 minutes to stay on the title track.
The crowd favorite won one more point than the Wimbledon champion, dropping serve once and delivering two breaks to emerge on top. The Swiss was the most aggressive player, with more winners and unforced errors. Federer had a slight advantage in the shorter exchanges but lost ground in the longer ones to end up on the losing end.
The Spaniard got a break in the fifth game of the first set and gave up two points after the initial blow to control the score and take it 6-4. Federer took command in the second set, serving well and earning a break at 15 in the tenth game to lead to a decider and gain momentum.
However, Ferrero played at a higher level and got a break after a forehand return winner in the fifth game. The Spaniard served well in the remaining games and held after the deuce at 5-4 to seal the deal and pick up valuable points.
“I wasn’t happy with my game today. I had some good moments, but it was full of ups and downs in the others. I controlled the game, not Juan Carlos; I took risks and made too many mistakes. My return was horrible in the first set.
Maybe his serve has improved, I don’t know, but today it worked well for him. I had a hard time picking up the pace and reading the take from him. Things improved in sets two and three, but not enough to cross the finish line first.”
Federer on working with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway
During the same interview, Roger Federer discussed two advertisements he had co-starred in with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway for Swiss Tourism. “Those ads were nerve-racking because the good things was the Robert De Niro one is that, I mean, number one, I can’t believe he actually did it, which in itself was a victory.
I’m a huge fan. And then he shot his first. And then I could just act on what he did. And I, obviously, could do a hundred takes if I had to. And it was no pressure, and he wasn’t around,” Federer remarked. “But then Anne Hathway, on the other hand, she was sitting next to me when I was doing the ad.
The director said, I usually shoot in one piece. I had no idea about any of the lines. So they created all these teleprompters for me, so I could read of them. And then the camera would be moving in front of the teleprompter. And I’d be chasing the text.
Anyway, I got better over time. And Anne was super sweet. She couldn’t have been nicer to me,” he added.
