Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the ATP, achieved in April 2009, and world No. 8 in men's doubles, achieved in November 2013. Verdasco won seven singles titles on the ATP Tour, and reached a major singles semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open. He also won eight doubles titles, including the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals partnering David Marrero.
In singles, Verdasco was a finalist at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Masters, reached the quarterfinals twice at the US Open in 2009 and 2010, and reached the quarterfinals at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, where he led eventual champion Andy Murray by two sets to love before being defeated in five sets. In men's doubles, Verdasco won the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals and was a finalist at the 2013 Shanghai Masters. He earned his 500th singles win at the 2018 Madrid Open, becoming the 45th man in ATP Tour history with 500 wins. Verdasco aided Spain in winning three Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009, and being part of the winning team in 2011. He also has the second-most singles losses in ATP history, behind Feliciano López.
Professional career
Early years
Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight.He turned professional in 2001, finishing as world No. 464. 2002 was a good year for him, as he won his first Futures category title in Spain F1 and was runner-up in Spain F3. He played his pond career challenger in Segovia, where he reached the final after beating Belarusian Vladimir Voltchkov in the semifinals. He then reached two additional Challenger semifinals in Kyiv and in Eckental, finishing the year in the top 200 at no. 173. 2002 also finished strongly off the court, as Fernando finished runner-up in a closely contested Best Abs in Castilla La Mancha contest.
2003: Masters 1000 debut, top 110 year-end ranking
In 2003, Verdasco played his first Masters Series tournament. He joined the main draw as a qualifier, and after defeating Karol Kučera and Max Mirnyi, he lost to countryman Carlos Moyá in the third round. After this good performance, he had a poor season on clay, and then he lost in the first round at Wimbledon against Finn Jarkko Nieminen in five sets in which he changed tennis racquets to the new Wilson Prestige and took new natural products for increased speed on the court. Then Verdasco played in Cincinnati, where he lost to Andy Roddick in straight sets. He reached the third round at the US Open, where he lost to Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, after defeating countryman Tommy Robredo in the first round and Italian Davide Sanguinetti in the second round.2004: First ATP title, top 40 year-end ranking
After finishing 2003 as No. 109 in the world, he had a breakthrough in 2004 when he won his first ATP title in Valencia. He defeated defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals and Albert Montañés in the final. He also reached the final in Acapulco, losing to Carlos Moyá, and the quarterfinals in Halle and in 's-Hertogenbosch on grass. He reached the third round in two Masters Series tournaments: the Hamburg Masters and the Madrid Masters. He reached the quarterfinals in Stockholm and the semifinals in Kitzbühel, and won a doubles title in Stockholm, ending the year ranked no. 36 in the world.2005: Further progress
In 2005, he defeated Andy Roddick twice, in Miami and in Rome. In Rome, the match was famous for Roddick being matchpoint up on Verdasco's serve and having the match end with a double fault from Verdasco, but Roddick claimed that the serve was not out and the match went on, with Verdasco winning. He also reached the quarterfinals in Valencia, Rome, and New Haven; the semifinals of Saint Petersburg; and was finalist in Kitzbühel, where he lost to Argentine Gastón Gaudio. Verdasco reached his first Grand Slam fourth round at the U.S. Open, where he lost to Jarkko Nieminen, after defeating Novak Djokovic. His year-end ranking improved slightly to no. 32 in the world.2006: 100 wins
Fernando reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, after beating Vince Spadea and German Benjamin Becker, and also upsetting third seed and former runner-up David Nalbandian in straight sets in the third round. Verdasco then lost to Czech Radek Štěpánek in five sets. At the US Open, Fernando reached the third round but lost to eventual runner-up Andy Roddick in five sets. In previous rounds, Fernando defeated Fabrice Santoro in four sets and Thiago Alves in three. Fernando then lost in the quarterfinals of Palermo to Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo, and then he lost to Ramírez Hidalgo again the following week in the first round at Metz. Verdasco did not win a match the rest of year. He lost to Italian Daniele Bracciali in Moscow, and then in the last two Masters Series tournaments of the year, he lost to Tim Henman in the Madrid Masters and to Michaël Llodra in the Paris Masters. Verdasco finished the year ranked no. 35.2007: Top 30 year-end ranking
In 2007, Verdasco lost in the first round in the three Masters Series tournaments on clay. He lost to Frenchman Richard Gasquet in both Monte-Carlo Masters and Rome Masters, and to Czech Tomáš Berdych in the Hamburg Masters. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the French Open. In the previous rounds, he beat Jérôme Haehnel in the first round, Dmitry Tursunov in the second round, and David Ferrer in the third round. In the grass season, he lost in the first round in Queen's, and he reached the third round at Wimbledon, where he lost to third seed Andy Roddick after beating Bobby Reynolds in the first round and Italian Andreas Seppi in the second round.At the Madrid Masters, Verdasco cruised through to the second round with a win over Albert Montañés, beating him in straight sets. However, in the second round, he faced third seed Novak Đoković and after winning the first set, the Serb player won the next two. At the St. Petersburg Open, Verdasco played some brilliant tennis to reach the final without losing a single set. En route to this final, he defeated Marin Čilić, who defeated Nikolay Davydenko early on, in the semifinal. However, his quest to win the title ended with a defeat by Scot Andy Murray. Still, this solid performance raised Verdasco's position in the ATP rankings to No. 27 the next week.
2008: Third ATP Tour title
Fernando entered the Australian Open as the 25th seed. He won his opening match with a strong performance against Thierry Ascione. He lost his second-round match in a close battle with Serbian Janko Tipsarević, who later went on to take Roger Federer to five sets. Fernando entered the Dubai Tennis Championships with a possible second-round opponent of either Roger Federer or Andy Murray, his opponent would be Murray after he beat Federer in three sets. Fernando managed to take Murray to three sets but after a good performance, he lost the match. In Berlin, Fernando and doubles partner Feliciano López clinched Spain's spot in the Davis Cup semifinals after defeating Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner in a four-hour and 45-minute marathon match.At the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco, Fernando lost to Gaël Monfils in straight sets in the first round. In Barcelona the following week he also lost his first-round match in straight sets to Nicolás Lapentti. His form improved dramatically for the Rome Masters where he reached the third round, en route he got the better of Carlos Moyá and Nicolás Lapentti before losing in a thriller to James Blake. Fernando continued his run of excellent form into the Hamburg Masters where he beat Mikhail Youzhny in the first round. In the second round, he beat Michaël Llodra. Verdasco then went on to record a remarkable win against compatriot David Ferrer in straight sets. His run ended when he met world number 1, Roger Federer, losing. At the French Open Verdasco was seeded No. 22 and enjoyed a good run, ending with a loss to Rafael Nadal in the last 16.
On 9 June, Fernando achieved his career-high ranking of No. 20, as a result of his run at the French Open. He reached the final of the Nottingham Open raising his ranking to a career-high of No. 18. At Wimbledon, he lost to Mario Ančić in a five-set thriller in which the last set lasted over 90 minutes and ended 13–11, in the fourth round. His performance at The Wimbledon Championships brought his world ranking up to No. 13. His most recent ATP victory was in Umag, Croatia where he defeated Igor Andreev. Afterward, he again improved in the rankings to 11th place. Verdasco was the 13th seed at the US Open in 2008, and lost to the 23rd seed Andreev in the third round.
On 23 November, Verdasco won the fourth rubber of Spain's Davis Cup final match against Argentina, defeating José Acasuso. This was enough to ensure victory for the team; Verdasco had also played in the doubles match the previous day and won, partnering with Feliciano López.
2009: Australian semifinal, Top 10, Masters quarterfinal, ATP Tour finals
Verdasco started his season by reaching the final of the Brisbane International losing to Radek Štěpánek in three sets. Partnering Mischa Zverev, he was also the runner-up in the doubles final. At the 2009 Australian Open Verdasco defeated Andy Murray in the fourth round to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Verdasco then lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in what was at the time the longest match in Australian Open history, lasting 5 hours, 14 minutes. Verdasco's semifinal run earned him No. 9 ranking, lifting the Spaniard into the top 10 for the first time.After being sidelined by injury since the Australian Open, he reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, where he lost to Roger Federer. At the 2009 Miami Masters, Verdasco recorded his 200th ATP match win by defeating qualifier Benjamin Becker in the second round. He reached the quarterfinals, losing to Andy Murray. His run at this tournament earned him a further career-high ranking of No. 8.
During the clay-court season, Verdasco lost in the quarterfinals at the Monte-Carlo Masters to Novak Djokovic. Following this tournament, his ranking rose further to No. 7. In Barcelona, he lost in the quarterfinals to Fernando González. At the 2009 Rome Masters, he advanced to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. At the Madrid Masters, Verdasco reached the quarterfinals, Verdasco again lost to Nadal for the ninth time. Competing as the 8th seed at the 2009 French Open, Verdasco lost in the fourth round to 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko.
On his first tournament on grass that season, Verdasco lost in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open to Philipp Petzschner. At the Rosmalen Open, he lost in the second round to eventual title winner Benjamin Becker. At the third Grand Slam of the year, Wimbledon, he matched his best result at that tournament by reaching the fourth round, where he was ousted by the big-serving Croat, Ivo Karlović.
In the Swedish Open he retired in the quarters against Juan Mónaco. After a small break he played in the Rogers Cup and was defeated by Andy Roddick in the third round. He was then upset by compatriot Guillermo García López in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters in two tiebreaks. In New Haven, Verdasco defeated Igor Andreev in two tiebreak sets in the semifinals. Due to rain delays in the previous days, Verdasco returned later the same day for the final against Sam Querrey, winning in straight sets. He did not lose a set in the entire tournament. He was seeded 10th at the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam, losing in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic.
Verdasco's first indoor tournament of the season was the 2009 Malaysian Open, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets in the final. At the China Open, Verdasco was seeded fifth, losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals for the third time in that year. In Shanghai, a Masters 1000 tournament, he lost his opening match to Ivan Ljubičić.
He next competed at the Valencia Open 500. He advanced to the semifinals where he lost to top seed Andy Murray. At the Paris Masters in the third round, Verdasco lost to Marin Čilić. His bid in qualifying for the ATP World Tour finals depended on the results of other players because of this loss. However, Robin Söderling and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga failed to pass the quarterfinals, allowing Verdasco to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time in his career.
At the ATP Tour Finals, Verdasco lost to Roger Federer in his first Round Robin match and to Juan Martín del Potro in his second match. He then lost his third match against Andy Murray in the round-robin hence ending his run at the tournament. Verdasco finished 2009 with a 52–25 record in singles, his best record to date, and finished the year at No. 9, the first time he has finished the year in the top 10.
To close 2009, Verdasco partnered Feliciano López in the 2009 Davis Cup Final doubles match against the Czech Republic. Playing against Radek Štěpánek and Tomáš Berdych, Verdasco and Lopez saved a set point to win the first set, and eventually the match. This victory retained the Davis Cup for Spain and was a fitting end to Verdasco's most successful season on the tour so far.