Fernando Verdasco during his Australian Open quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Fernando Verdasco came into the 2009 Australian Open determined to improve his performance at this tournament. With a 4-5 career record in Melbourne and never having managed to get beyond the second round, there was a lot of room for improvement.
And improve he did. This year, Verdasco, who won the decisive match that gave Spain the Davis Cup in 2008, spent his off-season training with Gil Reyes, the man who turned Andre Agassi into a monument to fitness. Verdasco returned to the tour with more stamina and more confidence. He made it to the final of the warm-up tournament in Brisbane, where he lost to Radek Stepanek, and arrived in Melbourne to find that he had a very tough draw, possibly facing Stepanek again in the third round, 4th-ranked Andy Murray in the fourth, last year's Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters, and the number one ranked player in the world, Rafael Nadal, in the semifinals. But first he had to get past round two.
In fact, Verdasco breezed through the first three rounds of the Australian Open without dropping a set and handing his former nemesis Stepanek a double bagel in the final two sets of their match (6-4 6-0 6-0). But then came Andy Murray, who appears to be challenging Rafael Nadal for the title of the "beast" of tennis. Murray was one of the hottest players in men's tennis in 2008, winning 5 titles and making it to his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open (l. to Federer). Murray finished 2008 with his highest ATP ranking to date (number 4) and started 2009 by taking the title at Doha (Qatar Open), beating 2nd ranked Roger Federer in the semifinal and the 9th ranked and apparently revitalized Andy Roddick in the final. In fact, many people considered him to be the favorite to take the Australian Open title this year. I doubt if anyone but his mother thought Fernando Verdasco, a handsome, amiable good-time guy who up to now has been best known for partying, night-clubbing, dating Ana Ivanovic, and posing in the nude, had a prayer against Murray.
It was a taxing five-set match in brutal heat, but Verdasco beat Murray (2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4) to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who rode his appearance in the 2008 Australian Open final (l. Djokovic) and titles in Bangkok and the Master Series tournament in Paris to a current ranking of 8th in the world. This was Verdasco's first appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and he bounced back after his long match with Andy Murray to defeat Tsonga in 4 sets (7-6 3-6 6-2 6-2).
Now he was in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal and had to face Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who won his first Grand Slam (and his first singles title!) at age 18 at Roland Garros, won his fourth Roland Garros title in a row in 2008, beating Roger Federer decisively in straight sets. From there, Nadal, no longer just the "King of Clay," went to Wimbledon and beat Federer again in a 5-set final that many people regard as one of the greatest matches of all time. Wimbledon championship in hand, Nadal continued his tear through the ATP with a total of 8 titles in 2008. He took over the number 1 ranking from Roger Federer just before the 2008 U.S. Open, where he lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray. Nadal finished 2008 ranked number one with a match record of 82-11.
Now he was in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal and had to face Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who won his first Grand Slam (and his first singles title!) at age 18 at Roland Garros, won his fourth Roland Garros title in a row in 2008, beating Roger Federer decisively in straight sets. From there, Nadal, no longer just the "King of Clay," went to Wimbledon and beat Federer again in a 5-set final that many people regard as one of the greatest matches of all time. Wimbledon championship in hand, Nadal continued his tear through the ATP with a total of 8 titles in 2008. He took over the number 1 ranking from Roger Federer just before the 2008 U.S. Open, where he lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray. Nadal finished 2008 ranked number one with a match record of 82-11.
Today, Fernando Verdasco lost to Rafael Nadal, but he made a real fight of it, going down in 5 sets (7-6 4-6 6-7 7-6 4-6) in the longest match in Australian Open history (5 hours and eleven minutes). In a battle of left-handers, Verdasco had 95 winners and 78 errors, but it wasn't enough to beat Nadal. He got down 0-40 in what turned out to be final game, then fought back to 30-40 before losing the match on a double-fault. After the match Verdasco said, "I need to be proud for the tournament I made and the level I played today also. I think it was unbelievable match. I [hit] 20 aces. I was serving 210, 215 a lot. So I cannot think about that I made two double-faults in one game, because tennis is like [that] sometimes." Thus ended the first all-Spanish semifinal at the Australian Open.
Despite what must be a disappointing loss, Fernando Verdasco made his Grand Slam breakthrough and will rise into the ATP top ten for the first time when the rankings come out on Monday. He apparently found a new seriousness of purpose through his pivotal role in the 2008 Davis Cup final, achieved a higher level of fitness by training with Gil Reyes in Las Vegas, and received much-needed self-confidence through a 2-hour private conversation with Andre Agassi on Christmas Eve 2008. Vardasco won't reveal any details of his talk with his childhood idol Agassi, but it seems to have given him a shot in the arm. On the eve of his match with Nadal Verdasco said, "Right now I'm believing so much about me and I just think that I can beat anyone." Let's hope he can keep hold of that belief. Vamos, Fernando!
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