Feet of clay? Ferrero tries to shake French Open stigma

PARIS -- Pete Sampras might never play again, and who knows how much time Andre Agassi has left. Marat Safin is hurt, Roger Federer is inconsistent, and Lleyton Hewitt has his ups and downs, too.

So where does that leave French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero?

"Now that I won this tournament," Ferrero said, "I want to be No. 1."

Plenty of players have harbored similar hopes after breaking through for their first Grand Slam title. What remains to be seen is whether Ferrero will be another in the long line of French Open winners to never claim another major, a list that includes Michael Chang, Sergi Bruguera, Thomas Muster, Andres Gomez and Yannick Noah.

After all, Roland Garros has a way of opening the door: Ferrero is the 19th player in the Open era (since 1968) to claim his first major trophy at the French Open, more than twice as many at any of the other three Slams.

Ferrero did take over first place from 33-year-old Agassi in the 2003 ATP Champions Race on Monday, although his ATP Tour ranking remained No. 3.

And Ferrero is well aware that to raise his ranking and his profile, he'll have to produce another two-week run at a major.

"My mentality right now is to win the U.S. Open or Australian or Wimbledon," the Spaniard said, "because I want to win another Grand Slam."

A future force at French Open

Ferrero, just 23, undoubtedly will be a contender for years on the slow, red clay of Roland Garros. His game, all churning legs and smooth strokes, is built perfectly for the surface, as his four straight semifinal appearances in Paris attest.

Unlike some other clay-court aficionados, however, he has shown hints of promise on hard courts, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January, and making it to the round of 16 at the 2002 U.S. Open.

Then again, eight of his 10 career titles have come on clay, and his 2003 record is 28-2 (a .933 winning percentage) on that surface, and 12-5 (.706) on everything else.

Now he'll head to Spain to practice on grass with an eye on Wimbledon, where the top-ranked Hewitt is the defending champion.

Looking at the hierarchy in men's tennis, Ferrero pointed to the Australian.

"Hewitt is my main rival," Ferrero said. "Agassi is getting older. Maybe in two years, he will think about retiring. Hewitt is one year younger than I am, so he'll stay longer to fight against me. There are other players we have to take into account, also."

Such as?

Well, Safin's mind and fragile right arm have prevented him from adding to his 2001 U.S. Open title. Federer, as talented as anyone on tour, lost in the first round at the past two French Opens and at Wimbledon last year.

Hewitt has proven inconsistent

Hewitt, author of two Grand Slam triumphs, doesn't always dominate. He has a return as good as Agassi's, and legs as good as Ferrero's, but he bowed out in the fourth round at the Australian Open and French Open this year. He also lost his opening match at Key Biscayne, Fla., in March to Francisco Clavet, who began 2003 ranked 116th.

Otherwise, the men's game is filled with players like French Open runner-up Martin Verkerk, who do little for years on end and then put everything together for one magical tournament. He had never won a Grand Slam match until this French Open, then won six straight.

Of course, his seventh match at Roland Garros was the most lopsided French Open final in a quarter-century: Ferrero won 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 Sunday. That happens to be the exact same score as Hewitt's win over another surprise finalist, David Nalbandian, at Wimbledon last year. Agassi dropped only five games while beating another "where did he come from?" runner-up, Rainer Schuettler, at the Australian Open.

The women's game has been far less democratic. Right now, there's little reason to believe anyone not named Williams or carrying a Belgian passport will win any of the coming Grand Slam titles. When Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Kim Clijsters 6-0, 6-4 Saturday to win the French Open, it was an all-Belgian final on the heels of four straight all-Williams finals.

Noah, whose 1983 French Open victory was the most recent for the host country, presented the trophy to Ferrero on center court Sunday.

"Bravo, Juan Carlos, for his first Grand Slam title," Noah said. "I hope he does better than me and doesn't stop here."