Ill Ferrero crashes out in Spain

General / Editor / 13 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Juan Carlos Ferrero is out of the Comunidad Valenciana tournament after a second round defeat to fellow Spaniard Alberto Martin.

The second seed was soundly beaten in straight sets, 6-4 6-2, at the season's opening clay court event.

Ferrero blamed a fever for the poor quality of his performance, with the 27-year-old hoping that he will be able to find his form in the coming weeks ahead of the French Open.

The Spanish ace revealed: "I was tired from halfway through the first set, so I tried to win it by being more aggressive in the second set, but I couldn't."

The 2003 Valencia Open champion is confident he will have made a full recovery in time to play in next week's ATP Masters series event, when the world's best players line up in Monte-Carlo.

Despite winning at Roland Garros in 2003, Ferrero is an outsider for this year's French Open - which gets underway at the end of May.

The Spaniard is currently trading at 80 for the second Grand Slam of the year, with Rafael Nadal the favourite at 2.56 and Roger Federer available to back at 2.6.