Ferrer is tennis's version of a human metronome
"If you were asked at a creative-writing class to delineate 'a Spaniard'," suggests Oliver Brown in The Daily Telegraph, "you would choose David Ferrer: his favourite food is paella, he admits to a deep interest in Spanish history." Brown also calls Andy Murray's quarter-final opponent 'Senor Consistencia' - "he has struck a seam of such unalloyed talent in the autumn of his playing career that he has become tennis's version of a human metronome." Inevitably Brown and other across Fleet Street recall the occasion that a 17-year-old Ferrer was locked in a cupboard by his coach, with just a bottle of water and a piece of bread to keep him going, as punishment for slacking off during training. Watching Ferrer now - the guy never stops running - it is almost impossible to imagine him not giving maximum effort, whether on the practice court or playing for a place in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.
In The Times, Patrick Kidd looks at a good summer for German grass-court tennis, with two Germans of each sex in the quarter-finals for the first time. "And where were the Germans? Frankly, everywhere. Somewhere, German broadcasting's answer to the suave John Barrett must be purring: Das is wunderbar, wunderbar tennis."
The "intimidating power" of Serena Williams's serve is the subject of Christopher Clarey's piece in the New York Times: "Williams’s average speed on her first serve against Petra Kvitova was 109 mph. David Ferrer, a Spaniard who is into the men’s quarter-finals, has been averaging 109mph on his first serves, too. Williams’s average speed on her second serve on Tuesday was 92, faster than the tournament averages for two men’s quarter-finalists: Florian Mayer (87 mph) and Andy Murray at (88). There is much more to Williams’s serve than pace: there is location, an ability to disguise her intent, to slice the ball sharply in the deuce court when her opponents have backed up to brace for the big one." Elsewhere in the media, John McEnroe has described Serena's delivery as the greatest serve in the history of the women's game.
