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Ferrero Takes Mallorca


Spanish teen-ager Juan Carlos Ferrero won his first ATP tournament and he did it with a comeback victory over his countryman.

Ferrero beat second-seeded Alex Corretja 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 to win the $500,000 Mallorca Open on Sunday.

Ferrero, in his first pro season, came into the tournament ranked 68th by the ATP Tour but with this victory he could climb into the top 40.

The 19-year-old lost the first start to Corretja, ranked 11 in the world.

"I started a bit nervous...but finally I achieved it," Ferrero said of his first victory.

But Corretja couldn't take advantage of a break point at 5-5 in the second set that could have given him the victory.

Ferrero held on and then broke Corretja in the next game to take the match into a deciding third set.

"Spanish tennis should be very happy as we have a new great player among the big ones," Corretja said.

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