He fell early at the Wimbledon Championships to 98th-ranked American Jeff Morrison 3–6, 5–7, 6–7(5–7). He reached the finals at the Generali Open, losing to Àlex Corretja, 4–6, 1–6, 3–6. He made it to the semifinals in the Cincinnati Masters, losing to eventual champion Carlos Moyá, 3–6, 4–6. At the US Open he fell in the third round to Fernando González 4–6, 4–6, 4–6. He won his second title of the year in Hong Kong, avenging his loss to Carlos Moyá by beating him in the final, 6–3, 1–6, 7–6(7–4). He lost in the quarterfinal of the Madrid Masters to Andre Agassi 3–6, 2–6 and the semifinal of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors to Fernando González 4–6, 6–4, 1–6. He qualified to the Tennis Masters Cup; he advanced to the semifinals with wins over Andre Agassi 2–6, 7–6(8–6) and Jiří Novák 7–5, 6–3, but lost to Roger Federer 3–6, 4–6 in the round robin stage. He then advanced to the final by defeating compatriot Carlos Moyá, 6–7(6–8), 6–4, 6–4, but lost to No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, 5–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6. This result saw the Spaniard finish the year ranked No. 4.