David Ferrer Retires

[Front242]

Actually, based on the outpouring of tributes and good words as to his character, most particularly, by her peers, commentators and fans, I would say that most disagree with YOU. I would think his fellow players would know better than you, and it seems everyone believes him when he says he did not work with that doctor.

Numbers mean nothing. Sorry to disappoint you but majority means nothing. The world is full of naive people. Just 'cos billions like Justin Bieber that doesn't mean he's not shit.

 

[Moxie]

Numbers mean nothing. Sorry to disappoint you but majority means nothing. The world is full of naive people. Just 'cos billions like Justin Bieber that doesn't mean he's not shit.

(That is a meaningless analogy.) You brought up the "majority." I only suggested that perhaps you were wrong to say that you were in the majority in your thinking about Ferrer. Now 'the majority' means nothing to you. Everyone that works with Ferrer, knows him personally and has all of these laudatory things to say about his work ethic, in particular, is wrong and you're right, you and your internet? Who's being "naive?"

 

[isabelle]

If you count working with Lance Armstrong's doctor as sportsmanship and fairplay. Most would disagree. Good riddance to him.

any proof about it ? Daveed has never been banned for doping so please....don't accuse him without any proof

 

[DarthFed]

Ferrer was impossible not to like or root for. A class act and a really good player for a long time. He's one of the greatest non-Slam winners in Open Era history. I'll try to do a statistical retrospective, if I get a chance.

Well allow me to retort...

I found it quite easy to root against the ferret

 

[Fiero425]

Well allow me to retort...

I found it quite easy to root against the ferret

He disappointed me again and again allowing Nadal to own him; taking maybe 1 or 2 matches off his Davis Cup team mate! It's players like Ferrer who do what we call "playing within oneself!" That only meant he never went out of his comfort zone and wasn't more aggressive to win more matches against the elites! As high as his ranking was, it was more happenstance of him winning when Fedalovic wasn't around! I put him right up there with Berdych, Cilic, Verdasco, Nalbandian, and quite a few other players who may have had more weapons, but were mental midgets letting themselves get throttled by more elite players! A smarter person would do SOMETHING to shake up the match up! They never did and now they're retiring one by one with few if any big titles! :whistle: :cuckoo:

 

[El Dude]

^Or, I don't know, maybe Nadal is just really, really, really good. Just maybe?

 

[Moxie]

^Or, I don't know, maybe Nadal is just really, really, really good. Just maybe?

The part of the equation that Fiero always misses when complaining about players not stepping up against your 'Holy Trinity' is that they've just been miles better. Ferrer actually beat Nadal 6 times, (not the 1 or 2 that Fiero suggested.) He should rather have mentioned Roger, whom Ferrer never beat, in 17 meetings. I really don't get the point of denigrating a player who worked hard and made the most of his gifts. Hell, I don't like Berdych's game, or Roddick's, but I respect their time in the Top 10. Being #3 in the world is a great accomplishment, especially in the era in which he played. As I've said, his game wasn't to everyone's taste, but slagging him seems either agenda-driven or just mean-spirited.

 

[El Dude]

The part of the equation that Fiero always misses when complaining about players not stepping up against your 'Holy Trinity' is that they've just been miles better. Ferrer actually beat Nadal 6 times, (not the 1 or 2 that Fiero suggested.) He should rather have mentioned Roger, whom Ferrer never beat, in 17 meetings. I really don't get the point of denigrating a player who worked hard and made the most of his gifts. Hell, I don't like Berdych's game, or Roddick's, but I respect their time in the Top 10. Being #3 in the world is a great accomplishment, especially in the era in which he played. As I've said, his game wasn't to everyone's taste, but slagging him seems either agenda-driven or just mean-spirited.

Yes, exactly. We're rather spoiled with the Trinity and I try not to forget (but often do) that a regular top 10 player is still really good.

I'd be curious to find out who other than the Big Four spent the most time in the top 5...other than the four, of course. I would guess Ferrer is the man.

 

[Fiero425]

Yes, exactly. We're rather spoiled with the Trinity and I try not to forget (but often do) that a regular top 10 player is still really good.

I'd be curious to find out who other than the Big Four spent the most time in the top 5...other than the four, of course. I would guess Ferrer is the man.

Without checking, the usual suspects in the group would be Ferrer, Berdych, & maybe Del Po & Davydenko! Just a guess OTOH! :whistle:

 

[El Dude]

Andy Murray entered the top 4 on September 8th, 2008 - which is the first week of the Big Four holding the top four spots. Here are the most weeks in the top 5 by players who played alongside the prime of the Big Four, from 2008 to the present. Some of the weeks might be before that time (e.g. Davydenko, Roddick, Hewitt), but I thought I'd include their totals.

bold: Big Four
Normal: Players who were top 5 Sept 8, 2008 or later

787 Federer
681 Nadal
573 Djokovic
429 Murray
208 Roddick
190 Ferrer
184 Hewitt
171 Wawrinka
149 Davydenko
111 Del Potro
88 A Zverev
74 Nishikori
59 Soderling
33 Cilic
32 Dimitrov
29 Berdych
25 Raonic
21 Thiem
12 Tsonga
11 Anderson
3 Robredo

Players like Hewitt, Safin, Ferrero, Coria, and Nalbandian were all top 5 before the rise of the entire Big Four, in the Fedal era.

The bulk of Roddick's, Hewitt's, and Davydenko's weeks in the top 5 were before Sept 8, 2008, but all had weeks in the top 5 after. Ferrer spent some time in the top 5 before that date, in late 2007 and 2008, but most of his weeks were in the Big 4 era...but less than Wawrinka, I think, who was probably the non-Big Four player with the most weeks in the top 5 during those years.

 

[El Dude]

^I was surprised at Stan's total...I thought he dropped in and out of the top 5 more frequently, but that's over three full years. From early 2014 through half of 2017 he was a fearsome player, easily the best Non-Big Four player of those years and better than each of the Big Four for portions of that time.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I bet if you count weeks in top 10, Bird Song would fare much better.

 

[Moxie]

Thanks, for that, @El Dude. I think it proves what most of us think about Ferrer, including his peers. And I would hope it puts to rest nefarious claims by Front. And even some notion that Ferrer was just a product of hard work. He also had a lot of talent.

 

[don_fabio]

^I was surprised at Stan's total...I thought he dropped in and out of the top 5 more frequently, but that's over three full years. From early 2014 through half of 2017 he was a fearsome player, easily the best Non-Big Four player of those years and better than each of the Big Four for portions of that time.

Me too, I tought he was less time in top 5. He was a force to reckon with. The way he managed to discover his full potential and take a couple of Slams, especially those 2 where he beat Novak being 1 set down in both. He made tennis more unpredictable stepping up like that. Sadly, players like Berdych or Ferrer never managed this.

Would be interesting to see some of these top 5 guys stats against Fedalovic or big 4 in GSs. I bet it's awful for Ferrer and Berdych.

 

[Moxie]

^I was surprised at Stan's total...I thought he dropped in and out of the top 5 more frequently, but that's over three full years. From early 2014 through half of 2017 he was a fearsome player, easily the best Non-Big Four player of those years and better than each of the Big Four for portions of that time.

I was surprised by that, too, as with del Potro's weeks. I think this shows us how little access there has been to the top 5 in the recent decade+.

 

[Fiero425]

^I was surprised at Stan's total...I thought he dropped in and out of the top 5 more frequently, but that's over three full years. From early 2014 through half of 2017 he was a fearsome player, easily the best Non-Big Four player of those years and better than each of the Big Four for portions of that time.

I should've thought about Stan since he actually was ranked ahead of Roger for a while a few yrs ago! :whistle:

 

[Moxie]

I bet if you count weeks in top 10, Bird Song would fare much better.

This thread really isn't about lauding Berdych, if that's who you mean. And top 5 is a whole different animal than top 10, if we're going to talk about rarified air, in this day and age. Ferrer's weeks in the top 5 is probably his greatest achievement.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Can't believe Zverev has already surpassed Berdych, Tsonga and many others in this category.

 

[Moxie]

Can't believe Zverev has already surpassed Berdych, Tsonga and many others in this category.

I know what you mean, esp. about Berdych, but he tended to stay in the bottom half of the top 10, whereas Zverev has been sitting up at 3-4 for some time now. Tsonga surprises me less, as #5 is his highest rank, so he was always drop below 5 as often as be on it. It shows the difference even between top 5 and top 10. And why it's a great stat for Ferrer.

 

[El Dude]

^Its also a good stat for someone like Boris Becker, who is not well represented by his mere 12 weeks at #1. He has 476 weeks in the top 5 - more than Agassi (443), Edberg (434), Murray (429), Borg (428), McEnroe (422), Wilander (320) and Hewitt (184) - all of whom have more weeks at #1.