Business is business for Ferrero
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MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- Juan Carlos Ferrero hates playing his fellow Spaniards, but you'd never know it -- when it comes to grand slams, business is business.
"You don't like to play against a Spanish guy... of course he's a friend and it is not easy to play a friend. Sometimes... this is life," he said after a 6-0 6-1 6-1 humiliation of Albert Montanes in the Australian Open first round.
If Ferrero finds it hard playing his compatriots, he didn't let it show at Melbourne Park.
He spent just 66 minutes pummeling Montanes who, at 23, is the same age as the third seed.
But there is a gulf in class between French Open champion Ferrero and his world number 82 opponent.
That disparity could, in part, be put down to Ferrero's work ethic and intense concentration often mistaken for a dour on-court approach.
"I smile when I finish the match, you know," he said. "I think for me to be positive, to concentrate, I have to be focused on my game. I don't have to be smiling, saying things.
"It is difficult because you have to concentrate. For me, if I smile to anyone or to everybody it is difficult for me to keep my concentration. That's just the way it is for me."
Ferrero said he had trained hard over the short off-season and was confident heading into the Open.
"I worked hard physically, some gym, you know, to add some power," he said.
"I come into a grand slam expecting I can win... if I do win I will have had some great results here.
"If I do it, it will be wonderful."
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
