Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero to retire next month

Valencia: Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero announced that Valencia Open 500 will be his last tournament as a professional tennis player.

In 14 years as a professional, he won 15 titles and helped Spain win two of its five Davis Cups in 2000 and 2004. The 32-year-old Spaniard moved to the top of the rankings in 2003 after winning the French Open and reaching the US Open final. ``It was a complicated decision to leave a world you have lived in intensely,`` he said Wednesday. ``But I have had a tough year and you start to notice that you don`t have the same ambition and motivation.`` Ferrero plans to devote time to his tennis academy and hotel. The Valencia Open runs Oct. 20-28. Agencies