For Ferrero, consolation prize is No. 1 ranking

NEW YORK (AP) -- For Juan Carlos Ferrero, the consolation prize after losing the U.S. Open championship wasn't all that bad.

Ferrero will take over the No. 1 ranking in the world on Monday, his reward for the best record on tour over the past 52 weeks. He sealed that when he defeated Andre Agassi in the semifinals, a day before running into Andy Roddick's buzzsaw serve in a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss in Sunday's final.

And No. 1 is not bad for the 23-year-old Spaniard, who won the French Open in a season in which he improved his finish in each of the four Grand Slam events.

Ferrero came into the U.S. Open seeded No. 3, equipped with three championships this season, all on clay. But he handled the hard courts on the National Tennis Center flawlessly, ignoring a grueling schedule that required him to play four straight days because rain backed up the tournament.

There was a five-setter against Todd Martin that started with one set on Tuesday and ended with three more on Thursday, stretched out by the rain.

Then came a four-setter against Lleyton Hewitt and another four-setter against Agassi -- 13 sets in rapid succession against three of the circuit's best hard court players. It was a daunting schedule and not the best way to prepare for the hard serves of Roddick.

"You know, I think I was working for that, to play the final, to beat big players like Todd Martin, Hewitt, Agassi and also Roddick," he said. "But today was not my day.

"Right now, I am a little bit sad, but I have to think I did a great job these two weeks."

He also caught the fancy of the crowds, twice turning take-a-chance return shots from between his legs into miracle winners. There was no chance for those kind of theatrics against Roddick.

Ferrero knew going in that the American would be a major challenge.

"It was not a surprise for me," he said. "If he serves so good, it is not easy to beat him. You have to serve so good as him to go to a tiebreak. Then we'll see. When I start the match, this I was thinking."

One break in the first set and Ferrero lost. The second set went to a tiebreak and again Roddick won. A double fault in the third set positioned Roddick to serve for the match and he finished with a flourish, sealing the victory with three straight aces.

Later, Ferrero reflected on the turn of events.

"You know, I think I played a bad, really bad match today," he said. "I didn't do my tennis. I didn't hit the ball aggressive. Maybe because he served so hard all the time, I didn't feel a rhythm in the court.

"I knew it's not impossible, but very difficult to break his serve. So I had to play better my games, my serve games. And I didn't."

Ferrero said he came away from the U.S. Open with some positives.

"I learned that I can play pretty good on hard courts and I can play against everybody," he said.

And one more thing.

He became No. 1.