Tribute to a sports hero in Javea, Costa Blanca

DAVID FERRER’S hometown, Javea, recently homaged him on his retirement from professional tennis. The now-retired champion was twice ranked third in the world and remained seven years amongst the ten best tennis players. Javea’s tribute began at the southern end of the Paseo Tenista David Ferrer, the promenade’s official name. The player, accompanied by Javea’s mayor Jose Chulvi, Sports councillor Alberto Tur as well as friends and relatives, walked to the far of the end ofthe promenade where hundreds of people, including pupils from the Ferrer Tennis Academy, were waiting for him. The party then entered the garden zone which now contains a sculpture by the artist Victor Goikoetxea that is dedicated to Ferrer and shows him about to serve. Ferrer, visibly moved thanked all those attending the event. It all started here,” he said. “My passion for tennis began in Javea when I still a child and my father took me to the club at weekends. I always carried, and still carry, the name of Javea with pride throughout the world,” he told them. “He is a Javea boy, a good person, a good friend. A normal and approachable person who has conquered the world with his unequalled strength and talent,” Jose Chulvi declared.