Player of the Day Wayne Ferreira - Day 3 South Africa
Let's put 56 consecutive Grand Slam appearances in perspective. Sure, it's not
Joe DiMaggio, but it's still pretty impressive. Think about it. Wayne Ferreira
hasn't missed a Grand Slam event since 1990. Sesil Karatantcheva, who played
women's singles on the Grandstand yesterday, was just one year old.
It's hard enough to stay in the game that long, let alone play in all four
major tournaments every single year for 14 straight years. Andre Agassi has
played in one less Grand Slam overall than Ferreira (Ferreira 57, Agassi 56),
but the longest consecutive streak he put together was 17. The only person to
have played in more total Grand Slam events in the Open Era than Ferreira is
Jimmy Connors with 58, but his longest streak was a mere four. Only Stefan
Edberg, who played 54 of his 55 Grand Slam matches consecutively, can compare.
So when Ferreira announced that he will retire after representing South Africa
in the Davis Cup later this month, it meant the streak would end at 56. And
when he drew No. 4 seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, it looked like it
could very well end today. And it did.
Ferreira lost in straight sets to Hewitt, the same man who just beat Goran
Ivanisevic in his final match earlier this summer at Wimbledon. And just like
Goran, Ferreira didn't go out without a fight.
After losing the first set 6-1, the 32-year-old veteran refused to give up,
keeping the final two sets close, and making things interesting late in the
second and third sets.
That's what has to make this final match so frustrating for him. Wayne Ferreira
never quits anything. Ever. Not a point, not a match, not a tournament. He
still feels as if he can beat anyone on the tour. After the match today he
admitted that his only regret is playing so many tournaments between Slams;
maybe he could have rested and prepared more like everyone else.
But that wasn't his way.
Later this month, after his final Davis Cup match, Ferreira will walk away from
the court for the last time. And the first.
Wayne Ferreira Interview:
On his plans for the future:
"I'm sure I'll stay in tennis to some degree. I mean, it's difficult
to spend your whole life in it and suddenly juts leave it."
On today's final match:
"I think today was really the first match that my son (five year old Marcus)
ever watched me play. That was a great feeling."
On walking away:
"I love competing. I still feel that I am as good as anybody else. it's tough
to leave it knowing that I am still at that level. But then, you know, I feel
I've got to leave sometime. And maybe I'm prolonging it a little bit. I think
it's about time for me to go and leave when I feel that I'm still at the top
of the game."
On staying healthy all these years:
"My career has been long. I've always given my best. I came in here thinking
every time that I could win the tournament. Maybe I would have changed it up
and played a little bit less and been more ready for the Grand Slams. But,
you know, I've competed well."
On his current health:
"I've had a bad shoulder for about 10 months now. I haven't been able to
practice as much. I wake up some mornings and different things hurt. I feel
like I could carry on, but I also feel like maybe it's more important for me
to able to walk when I'm 50. I've got to look at that too."
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