Began playing tennis at age seven with his father, Eduardo, who often travels with son...Has two sisters, Ana and Laura...As a youngster, admired play of former No. 1 and two-time Roland Garros champion Jim Courier... Reached Roland Garros junior final in 1998 (l. to Gonzalez)...Likes to collect motor bikes and cars (his favorite is a Renault Spider)...Fan of Real Madrid soccer team...Draws his tennis inspiration from his mother, Rosario, who passed away when he was 17...Named 1999 ATP Newcomer of Year...In Oct. 2001, opened tennis school, “Equelite-Juan Carlos Ferrero” in his hometown of Villena, Alicante, to promote future tennis talents between ages 14 and 21...Bought an old cottage and refurbished into "Hotel Ferrero" in July 2007 in Bocairente, 50 minutes south from Valencia (features 12 luxury suites)...Friend of countryman and pro golfer Sergio Garcia...Has a 17-6 singles and 0-1 doubles record in 16 Davis Cup ties and member of winning team in 2000 and 2004...Received Spain’s 2003 “National Sportsman of the Year” award on Sept. 30, 2004 from King Juan Carlos in Madrid...It is highest sporting accolade by Spanish government...Fitness trainer is Miguel Maeso and coached by Antonio Martinez (since 1989) and Samuel Lopez (since October 2009).
1999 – Made biggest ranking improvement in Top 50 from previous year, moving 302 positions...Captured his first ATP title in Mallorca, defeating No. 11 Corretja in three sets in his fifth career event...Qualified and advanced to SF in Casablanca in ATP debut...Captured two Challenger titles and a finalist in two others...One of three teenagers (Hewitt, Safin) to capture an ATP title during year...
2000 – Reached ATP finals in Dubai (l. to Kiefer) and Barcelona (l. to Safin), advanced to his first Grand Slam SF in his debut at Roland Garros (l. to Kuerten) and led Spain to its first Davis Cup title ever...Posted wins over Australia’s Rafter and Hewitt to clinch 3-1 final Cup victory...His best results came in first five months of season (through Roland Garros) when he compiled a 31-13 record and reached QF or better in seven of 13 tournaments...Made his seasonal clay court debut in 1st RD Davis Cup tie against Russia and beat Kafelnikov and Safin (dead rubber) to lead Spain into QF... Continued his successful run with QF in Estoril, AMS Monte Carlo and runner-up effort in Barcelona (d. Rios in QF, Moya in SF; l. to Safin)...Advanced to 4th RD at US Open (d. Federer, l. to Safin)...Played well in his first Olympics in Sydney, reaching QF (l. to Di Pasquale)...Made indoor breakthrough at AMS Paris where he reached his first SF (l. to eventual winner Safin)...
2001 – The Spanish No. 1 finished with his first Top 10 showing at No. 5, highest year-end by a Spaniard since Alex Corretja (No. 3) in 1998...Became eighth Spaniard in that year-end elite group...Won four ATP titles, including his first career hard court crown in Dubai (d. Safin) and ATP Masters Series title in Rome...Qualified for season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney and advanced to SF...Also compiled a career-best 16-match winning streak, which was second-best on ATP circuit during year (Hewitt-17)... Won title in Estoril (d. Mantilla) then put together a stretch of three straight finals, winning in Barcelona (d. Moya) and AMS Rome (d. Kuerten) before the streak was snapped by countryman Albert Portas at AMS Hamburg...All three finals were five-sets and for year played in an ATP-high eight five-set matches (4-4)... Continued strong play at Roland Garros where he advanced to SF for second straight time, losing again to eventual champion Kuerten...Made his Wimbledon debut, defeating former semifinalist Stoltenberg in five sets before losing to Rusedski in 3rd RD...Finalist in Gstaad (l. to Novak)...
2002 – Won two ATP titles in five finals, highlighted by first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros...Closed season with runner-up effort at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai where he lost an epic five-set battle to No. 1 Hewitt 6-4 in final set...Lost first two sets before winning next two and led 3-1 in final set but Hewitt rallied to repeat as champion...Despite loss, finished at No. 4 and became first Spaniard since Sergi Bruguera in 1993-94 to appear in Top 5 in back-to-back seasons...Won Hong Kong (d. Moya)...Did not play Australian Open due to bursitis in right knee and injured his right ankle while practicing on off-day at Roland Garros but recovered to reach final...
2003 – Became first Spaniard to finish No. 3 since Alex Corretja in 1998, matching best finish by a Spanish player in history of ATP Rankings (since 1973)...Captured four titles in a career-high seven finals and won a personal-best 67 matches...Led his country to Davis Cup final (lost 3-1 to Australia) with a 4-3 singles mark during year...Lost five-set matches to Hewitt and Philippoussis in final...Only player since Ivan Lendl in 1980 to win at least 30 matches on clay (33-5) and hard courts (30-12) in same season...Lost only one opening round match in 20 tournaments...In each Grand Slam tournament, turned in a career-best result at that time (20-3 record)...Finalist in Sydney (l. to Lee) and QF at Australian Open (l. to Ferreira)...Won titles at AMS Monte Carlo (d. Coria), Valencia (d. C. Rochus) and Roland Garros (d. Costa in SF, Verkerk in F)...Reached Wimbledon 4th RD (l. to Grosjean)...Reached final at US Open where he defeated former champions Hewitt (QF) and Agassi (SF) (l. to Roddick)...First Spaniard to reach US Open final since Manuel Orantes won title in 1975...By reaching final, became second Spaniard (Moya in ‘99) to hold No. 1 in ATP Rankings... Runner-up in Bangkok (l. to Dent) and won AMS Madrid (d. Massu)...It marked second time in his career he reached three consecutive finals...Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Houston and trailed No. 1 Roddick by 26 points in Race going into year-end event but went 0-3 in round robin...Earned career-high $3,026,760...
2004 – Finished out of Top 30 for first time in five years...Reached SF at Australian Open (l. to Federer)...Finalist in Rotterdam (l. to Hewitt)...Missed March due to chicken pox...Reached SF in Valencia (l. to Verdasco) and after 1st RD exit at AMS Monte Carlo, took another month to recuperate and gain strength...Did not play a tournament prior to Roland Garros after injuring his right wrist and ribs in a fall while practicing on May 8 in Spain...Came in as defending champion in Paris and lost to Andreev in 2nd RD...After Wimbledon 3rd RD, failed to win back-to-back matches rest of year...
2005 – At AMS Monte Carlo, reached SF (d. Safin in 3rd RD, l. to Coria)...Followed with runner-up in Barcelona (l. to Nadal)...On grass, reached QF in Halle (l. to Haas) and 4th RD at Wimbledon (l. to Federer)...Lost to eventual champion nine times during year...Returned to clay with QF in Bastad (l. to Nadal) and Umag (l. to Coria)...Reached SF in Beijing and final in Vienna (d. Nalbandian in QF, l. to Ljubicic)... Helped his country back into 2006 Davis Cup World Group by winning fifth and decisive rubber against Italy’s Bracciali...Compiled a 6-10 record vs. Top 10 opponents...Went 21-10 on clay, 18-13 on hard and 5-2 on grass...
2006 – Finished in Top 25 for sixth time in last seven years, highlighted by a runner-up result at AMS Cincinnati...Did not drop a set en route to final and defeated three Top 10 players – No. 5 Blake (2nd), No. 2 Nadal (QF) and No. 7 Robredo (SF) – before falling to Roddick...His ranking improved from 31 to No. 18... Compiled 14-10 record on clay, with best results coming in SF in Buenos Aires (l. to eventual champ Moya), and QF in Barcelona (l. to Almagro) and Bastad (l. to Nieminen)...Also 3rd RD at AMS Monte Carlo (l. to Ferrer), AMS Hamburg (l. to Ferrer) and Roland Garros (l. to Gaudio)...Advanced to grass court QF at ‘s-Hertogenbosch...Went 3-1 vs. Top 10 opponents...
2007 – Finished in Top 25 for seventh time in last eight years, highlighted by one ATP finalist result and QF showing at Wimbledon...Best results came on clay with a runner-up in Costa do Sauipe (l. to Canas) in February, SF in Acapulco (l. to Moya) in March and at AMS Monte Carlo (d. Gasquet, l. to Federer) in April...After a 3rd RD at Roland Garros (l. to Youzhny), played well on grass with QF at All England Club where he lost to eventual champ Federer in four sets...En route, defeated No. 9 Blake in 3rd RD...In final four months, best results were QF in Stuttgart (l. to Lopez) in July, 3rd RD at AMS Cincinnati (d. No. 6 Gonzalez, l. to Blake) in August and SF in Vienna (d. Canas, d. No. 6 Gonzalez, l. to Wawrinka) in October...Went 3-6 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 20-11 on clay, 10-10 on hard and 4-2 on grass.
2008 -- The Spaniard finished out of Top 50 for first time since his rookie campaign in 1998...In first month of season, compiled a 7-2 mark, reaching his 27th career final in Auckland (l. to Kohlschreiber) and 4th RD at Australian Open (d. No. 10 Nalbandian, l. to Ferrer)...In AMS play, reached 4th RD in Indian Wells (l. to Nalbandian) and 3rd RD in Miami (l. to Berdych), Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal) and Rome (l. to Wawrinka)...Handed Nadal his lone clay court loss of season in 2nd RD of Rome...Retired in 1st RD at Roland Garros (vs. Daniel) with leg injury and retired in 2nd RD at Wimbledon with a hamstring injury (vs. Zverev)...Also withdrew from US Open with right shoulder injury...Missed three months of action before returning in late September in Beijing where he reached QF (l. to Roddick)...Closed season with QF in Lyon (l. to Tsonga)...Went 2-6 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 14-9 on hard and 4-4 on clay.