Davis Cup
Ferrero made his Davis Cup debut for Spain in the quarterfinals match-up against Russia in 2000 and won both his matches against Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin in straight sets. He played in the semifinals, this time against the American Vince Spadea, and won in three sets, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4. His impressive Davis Cup form continued when he defeated Australians Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt in Barcelona, enabling Spain to capture the Davis Cup for the first time. In 2001, Spain fell to the Netherlands, and Ferrero lost his first match against Raemon Sluiter, losing two tie-breakers and winning one. He, however, made up for this loss when Spain competed in the qualifying rounds for the Davis Cup World Group by defeating Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in straight sets.
Ferrero continued to be a key Davis Cup player in subsequent years. In both 2003 and 2004, Ferrero contributed to Spain's successive progress to the Davis Cup final. In 2004, Spain won the Davis Cup for the second time. In 2009, Ferrero won the fifth and decisive rubber against Andreas Beck of Germany, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4, in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, putting Spain through to the semifinal. In the semifinal Ferrero won the second rubber against Israel, 6–4, 6–2, 6–0, putting Spain on track to win the Davis Cup for the second consecutive year, the first nation to do so since Sweden in 1998. As Nadal returned from injury to play the final for Spain, Ferrero was not selected to Spain's final team. He attended all the live rubbers to support his teammates during the first two days of the Davis Cup final as a reserve player. He was not included in the 2009 Davis Cup presentation ceremony and celebrations on the final day.
Read more about this topic: Juan Carlos Ferrero
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