BGod
G.O.A.T.
It seems to me not enough people discuss David Ferrer's magical, too good to be true career resurgence.
Or hell....him hitting his peak in his 30s.
Making Slams in 2003, the man reached 3 quarterfinals and one semifinal until the age of 28, going on 29 when he reached the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2011. He actually failed to reach at least the quarters from the 2008 Wimbledon until that 2011 Aussie Open.
As is custom, he seemed to come back down to earth getting stopped in the 4th rounds of the remaining Majors that season, but beginning in 2012 at age 29 going on 30, he has made 10 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals or better.
So what are the reasons? History points to only 2:
1. Performance enhancers that have given him an edge he lacked prior.
or
2. A competition drop off from the big names of Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer that have created a gaping void Ferrer just so happened to fill.
For similair career patterns, one has to look at Li Na and possibly Francesca Schiavone for Slam performance, however on the men's side I have failed to see quite the same pattern. There have been players who showed flashes early in their career and then did little in their 20s until the later stages with a resurgence, but Ferrer's early career successes were still a notch below what he's been doing as of late. Between 2005-2006 he made 3 semifinals at the Masters 1000 tournaments and 6 quarterfinals. Between 2011-2013, he won a title, made 4 finals, 1 semi and 7 quarters.
Or hell....him hitting his peak in his 30s.
Making Slams in 2003, the man reached 3 quarterfinals and one semifinal until the age of 28, going on 29 when he reached the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2011. He actually failed to reach at least the quarters from the 2008 Wimbledon until that 2011 Aussie Open.
As is custom, he seemed to come back down to earth getting stopped in the 4th rounds of the remaining Majors that season, but beginning in 2012 at age 29 going on 30, he has made 10 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals or better.
So what are the reasons? History points to only 2:
1. Performance enhancers that have given him an edge he lacked prior.
or
2. A competition drop off from the big names of Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer that have created a gaping void Ferrer just so happened to fill.
For similair career patterns, one has to look at Li Na and possibly Francesca Schiavone for Slam performance, however on the men's side I have failed to see quite the same pattern. There have been players who showed flashes early in their career and then did little in their 20s until the later stages with a resurgence, but Ferrer's early career successes were still a notch below what he's been doing as of late. Between 2005-2006 he made 3 semifinals at the Masters 1000 tournaments and 6 quarterfinals. Between 2011-2013, he won a title, made 4 finals, 1 semi and 7 quarters.