The National’s Sport cover for the Wednesday, December 30 issue, featuring tennis star David Ferrer.
Spaniard Ferrer is in Abu Dhabi for the pre-season Mubadala World Tennis Championship, and Ahmed Rizvi takes an appreciation of one of the game's greats not to win a grand slam:
“Who is the best men’s tennis player in the Open era never to win a grand slam singles title?
“How about David Ferrer? Ah, that Spaniard? The perennial underdog? A warrior, but always an afterthought in this glorious era of tennis, dominated by four of the greatest tennis players to have graced the game and, of course, Stan Wawrinka – a man, who can play tennis for the heavens on his day.
“To use a cliche, Ferrer never gives up, relying on his indefatigable stamina to grind down his more gifted opponents.
“The numbers are loaded heavily in his favour and, if Ferrer were to hang up his boots without winning a major, he would be easily be at the top of the list of greats never to win a grand slam crown. If you do not take our word for it, then take Rafael Nadal’s.”
“The person who is not respecting David as one of the greatest players of the world – and not for one year, for a long time – it’s because that person doesn’t know anything about tennis,” Nadal has said.
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