2015 Season Review: David Ferrer

Spanish tennis player David Ferrer celebrates with the trophy after winning his ATP Rio Open tournament final match against Italian Fabio Fognini. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Throughout his career, David Ferrer has played second fiddle to Rafael Nadal. However for much of this year, the Spaniard found himself as the best Spaniard on the courts thanks to the struggles of his compatriot. After finishing outside the top eight for automatic qualification to the ATP World Tour Finals last year, Ferrer was on a mission to ensure that he wouldn’t have to rely on someone’s misfortune to play at the O2 Arena. That he did by getting to London once again for a sixth consecutive year, as one of the final qualifiers.

Win/Loss

Ferrer picked up 55 wins this year, marking his sixth consecutive season with 50+ wins. The Spaniard has played. Against the top ten however, the world number seven went a woeful 3-11 against the world’s best. Despite the struggles against the top ten, Ferrer was able to get the job done in finals, going 5-0 in finals. In deciding set matches, he was near perfect with a 15-2 mark.

High Points

Though Ferrer won five titles this season, the Spaniard’s high point came at the beginning of the 2015 season. In the first two months of the season, Ferrer witnessed himself lift up three of his five titles on the year as well as making the second week of a major. It all began in Doha where he won the title over Tomas Berdych. The Spaniard didn’t have to go through either Novak Djokovic or Nadal with both men getting eliminated early.

His next event was the Australian Open which saw him make the round of 16 before crashing out to Kei Nishikori. After a couple of weeks off, the world number seven was off to Rio for the Rio Open. Once again, he avoided Rafael Nadal with Nadal’s 2015 nemesis Fabio Fognini defeating him in the semifinals. The following week, Ferrer transitioned from outdoor clay to the hard courts in the popular vacation city of Acapulco in Mexico. He exacted his revenge on Nishikori, absolutely outplaying him in the final to win his third title in only two months of play.

Low Points

Ferrer’s lowest point had to come during the summer season. An early exit in Nottingham was followed by a withdrawal from Wimbledon due to an elbow injury. The injury kept the 33-year-old out of action until the US Open, missing two Masters 1000 events in the process. Rust definitely showed at Flushing Meadows dropping a set against Radu Albot and getting pushed against Filip Krajinovic. His US Open run ended with a third round loss to Jeremy Chardy, his worst result at a Grand Slam this year.

Spanish tennis player David Ferrer wears a traditional Mexican mariachi hat while holding the winning trophy after defeating Japan's tennis player Kei Nishikori. (Photo credit Pedro PARDO/AFP/Getty Images)

Best Results

We’ve already discussed three of Ferrer’s five titles on the year which came at the beginning of the year. However, the Spaniard also peaked toward the end of the year as well. At the Malaysian Open, he captured his fourth title of the year, defeating fellow countryman Feliciano Lopez in the process. At the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the Spaniard had to battle quite hard for his title. American Steve Johnson was playing like a man on fire the whole week, but Ferrer cooled him off in the final, escaping with the trophy after three tight sets.

Worst Results

Only twice this year Ferrer found himself on the losing end after only a match. The first time came in Nottingham where he received a bye but was duly defeated by Marcos Baghdatis. The second time came in Shanghai where Bernard Tomic played superb tennis throughout the week as he defeated the 33-year-old in the second round.

David Ferrer of Spain reacts in a match against Bernard Tomic of Australia during their men's singles second round match on day 4 of Shanghai Rolex Masters. (Photo by Kevin Lee/Getty Images)

Grade: B-

Ferrer has mastered the art of winning 250s and 500s, but it’s been awhile since we’ve seen him make the step up to winning a Masters event. His last Masters title came in 2013. For a player who is so accustomed to making it into the second week of Slams and Masters events, he saw a bit of a dip in those results this year. 

This year however, he managed to get back into the top eight and qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals without playing as an alternate. The Spaniard is one of the opposites in tennis terms by peaking after 30 rather than in his late 20s. Don’t be surprised to see Ferrer win multiple titles again next year.