Ferrero looking to rewrite record books in Hamburg

Ossian Shine

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero is setting himself up to become the first player to win the Rome and Hamburg tournaments in the same season for 29 years - and not many in the northern German port city would bet against him pulling it off.

The last player to achieve the feat was Manuel Orantes in 1972 - a player who helped put Spanish tennis on the map.

With Manuel Santana and Andres Gimeno, Orantes flew the flag for the Iberian nation in tennis circles in the 1960s and '70s and remains Spain's most prolific title winner with 32 titles.

Ferrero has just six tournament wins to his name so far - four this year - but is very much part of a new Spanish dynasty.

A five-set victory against world number one Gustavo Kuerten in the Rome final last week handed him a first Masters crown, and he is looking in unstoppable form as the year goes on.

"I feel so confident," he said after marching into the quarter-finals of Hamburg with a 6-4 6-3 win over Nicolas Lapentti on Thursday. "I have won too many matches on clay not to feel confident. It would be incredible if I wasn't."

If Ferrero wins in Hamburg, he will actually eclipse Orantes's feat, because unlike in 1972, the tournaments are now back-to-back.

The 21-year-old certainly does not underestimate the task ahead.

"I know it is going to be really difficult to do," he said on Thursday, "but I am in the quarter-finals...I am really going to try.

"Of course it is tough because some days I might feel really bad on court...I might feel tired but I am going to try."

Ferrero plays the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf next week before opening his assault on the French Open where last year he fell in the semifinals to Kuerten.

"I am in great form here so that is why I am really trying to win this tournament," he said.

"Who knows if in Paris I am going to play badly, so I have to take the opportunity."