The Challenge of David Ferrer Adam Gale “Ferrer, verb, transitive: to grind into a fine powder.” David Ferrer is one of tennis’ most admired and respected professionals. He is world number four, a five-time slam semi-finalist and winner of 19 ATP titles. His speed, work ethic and tenacity make him one of the most feared and consistent players out there. Since the start of 2012, he has won a formidable 92% of his matches against those outside of the top five (87-7). Despite his achievements, however, the Spaniard gets little credit from the casual tennis fan. He is seen as a grinder, having only great swiftness and determination, rather than great talent. No one picks Ferrer in water cooler conversations about who’s going to win the next major.
The reason for this apparent disrespect, of course, is that to win a major in this era a player needs to be able to beat at least one of the Big Four (and possibly two), and Ferrer’s record against them is fairly dismal. He’s 5-6 against Murray (including two of the last seven), 5-10 against Djokovic (including one of the last seven), 4-16 against Nadal (including one of the last 13) and 0-14 against Federer (including…well, you get the picture). The Problem To understand why Ferrer struggles so badly against the Big Four, it is necessary to understand why he does so well against everyone else. Ferrer has a hammer and anvil game. The anvil is his relentless ability to rally without conceding anything — his court coverage, defense and consistency make it hard to win a point against him. The hammer is his forehand, which he uses aggressively to push and bully opponents all over the court, until there’s space for a winner or until they just can’t take any more. This deadly combination forces big-hitting opponents to play beyond themselves, to be more aggressive than they want to be, because they don’t believe they can win longer points. Those without major weapons, Ferrer simply outruns and out-rallies. The reverse is true against the Big Four. He can’t consistently hit through them, they can consistently hit through him, and they all know it. It was something that was illustrated dramatically at this year’s Australian Open, where the Spaniard was demolished by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, 2-6, 2-6, 1-6.
“Ferrer doesn’t have a way of making Djokovic uncomfortable,” remarked Miles McClagan, retired pro and one-time member of Andy Murray’s team. “They’re playing the same game, but one guy’s playing it two levels better.” It all seems pretty grim for Ferrer right now. Is there nothing he can do to overcome these twenty-first century titans? The Solution Tennis great Mats Wilander was asked, while commentating on the Australian Open semi-final, how he would reverse a losing streak against a higher ranked player. “I would certainly change things up,” the seven-time major winner said. “I wasn’t going to lose playing the way I wanted to play. I was going to lose playing the way I needed to play.” The way Valencia’s finest wants to play hasn’t been working out for him so far, so let’s look at what he needs to do, in order to improve his chances. Kill the Rhythm — Ferrer’s game is predictable. Opponents know they will face muscular, exhausting tennis from a guy who won’t miss. They know his ground strokes will have a consistent pace and spin, and that he will hit sliced backhands and net approaches only when absolutely necessary, rather than as part of a deliberate game plan. For most opponents, this predictability creates pressure — they know what’s coming, and they know their normal game won’t be enough to stop it. For the Big Four, however, this predictability creates rhythm, and Ferrer doesn’t stand a chance against the likes of Djokovic or Nadal when they have rhythm. To counter this, Ferrer surely needs to mix things up. Occasionally throwing in some slices, surprise net approaches and flatter forehands could keep the Big Four guessing, possibly preventing them from playing their devastating best. Take a risk — It is a misconception that Ferrer does not play aggressive tennis. He does, often sniping the lines for winners, particularly with his runaround topspin forehand. What he doesn’t do is take risks with his shots. It is rare for him to attempt a winner that lands just wide, or just long, or just clips the tape. There’s a reason for that. Ferrer hates to miss. He likes to control the point with muscular hitting, and then pull the trigger when the right opportunity arises. That this is often highly ineffective against the Big Four was made all too clear in the recent Djokovic match. Ferrer won only three of 21 rallies (14%) over ten shots, compared to 28 of 71 shorter rallies (39%). His traditional strength became a weakness against the world’s best. To be able to beat players like Djokovic, Ferrer must do as Djokovic does. He has the weapons to take control of the point, but he needs to use them earlier, when there are opportunities that aren’t necessarily perfect. Perfect opportunities to attack will not come by often enough against players who are both willing and able to create their own chances.
Prognosis For over a decade, David Ferrer has built a successful career on not missing. His belief in his own ability to make the shot he intends to make, offensive or defensive, is one of his greatest strengths, one of the things that make him so tough to beat. If he is to have a better chance of defeating the Big Four when it matters, however, he will have to depart from the approach that has brought him so much success against everyone else. This is not something he can do only in matches against the Big Four — to be effective in important matches, risk and variety will also have to become part of his week-in, week-out tennis. It would be a difficult, drastic move. Ferrer would have to learn to deal with the frustration of making errors he feels he shouldn’t have made and losing matches he feels he should have won. This might be too much for him, too contrary to his personality to stick. To make things worse, it would still probably not be enough for him to win a major. Performances like Djokovic’s down under are just too good. If he stays as he is, however, Ferrer has very little chance to win these career-defining matches, in part because he has very little belief. He’s lost to the Big Four too many times playing the way he does to think that one day it will just happen. If he were to apply his legendary grit and determination to changing his tennis, David Ferrer has a shot at something special, which is more than the vast majority of players can say. For a man who’s achieved so much already, and whose career is surely in its final stretch, what is there to lose.
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