Events / Editor / 10 April 2007 /

David Ferrer is the man to beat as the grandly-named Open de Tenis de Communidad Valencianan as the clay-court season starts in Valencia in Europe and in Houston in the USA.

And Ferrer has a special reason for wanting to live up to his number one billing. He's the hometown boy in Valencia.
Ferrer begins his European clay-court campaign with a first-round clash against Italy's Daniele Bracciali and holds a 2-0 advantage in head to heads.

Most recently he beat Bracciali on the way to the Auckland title in January.
Ferrer, the 5ft 9in 25-year-old world number 16, is loyal to the Valencia event. This is his fifth consecutive appearance - but he has yet to win it.

He came closest in 2005 when he finished runner-up to Russian Igor Andreev, who is a wild card entry this week.
And he may have to beat another former winner if he is to break his Valencia duck. Fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is seeded to meet him in the final, was a winner in the city in 2003.

Ferrer, who was 25 last Monday, has been on the pro circuit since 2000 and at the start of 2006 reached a career-high number 10 in the world rankings.

He has three ATP career titles to his name - winning his first in Bucharest in 2002. Last year he triumphed in Stuttgart beating Argentina's Jose Acasuso in the final 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-5 6-4 after toppling Jiri Novak, Stanislas Warwinka, Florian Mayer and Tomas Berdych, all in straight sets.

Title number three came in the Auckland International in January when he beat fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-2 in the final after toppling American Mardy Fish in the semi-finals 6-0 4-6 6-1. But Fish turned the tables on him at the Australian Open, beating him 6-1 7-6 2-6 7-5 in the last 16.

So far this year he has followed up his Auckland victory by reaching the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters Series event in Indian Wells and the last eight of the Rotterdam tournament.

In Indian Wells he beat Carlos Moya to reach the quarters before losing to eventual runner-up, Novak Djokovic, 6-3 6-4.
In Rotterdam it was Russian Mikhail Youzhny who stopped his gallop with a 6-2 7-5 victory, while at the Miami Masters two weeks ago he fell in the last 16 to Andy Roddick 7-5 6-3.

Ferrer, who was a member of the Spanish squad beaten by the United States in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in Winston-Salem at the weekend, is a fanatical Barcelona fan and is a keen reader. He keeps every book he reads.

In Betfair's books he is trading as the 3.7 favourite in a developing market to win his first Valencia title this week and put him in good heart for next week's third Masters Series event of the season in Monte Carlo. Like all Spaniard, he is at his best on clay and finished last year with an 18-8 win-loss record on that surface compared to 17-13 on hard courts.

His main target this season will be to make his mark in a Grand Slam. He has yet to reach a semi-final - with just one quarter-final at Roland Garros in 2005 and fourth rounds at Australia and Wimbledon in 2006 to show for his efforts.

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