Fernando Verdasco

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Fernando Verdasco : biography

15 November 1983 –

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.

He next competed at the Paris Masters as the seventh seed. 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.

2010

Verdasco started his 2010 season at the exhibition tournament AAMI Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, in preparation for the upcoming Australian Open. He beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. His first official tournament for the year was in the Australian Open. As the 9th seed, he lost in the fourth round against Nikolay Davydenko in a five set match.

His next tournament was the SAP Open in San Jose, California. Before his first round match, he won an exhibition match against Pete Sampras in straight sets. In the tournament final, he defeated Andy Roddick to capture his fourth ATP singles title. This was his first win over a Top 10 ranked player since the 2009 Australian Open. He arrived late at the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, and as a result, he was ousted in the opening round by Jérémy Chardy.

Verdasco’s next tournament was the Acapulco where he lost to Juan Mónaco in the quarter-finals.

Seeded 10th (and as a result, receiving a bye into the second round) at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells where, in the third round, he lost to Tomáš Berdych. At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, after receiving an opening round bye, he lost to Berdych in the quarterfinals.

At the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, as the sixth seed, he defeated the number 1 seed Novak Djokovic to reach his first ever Masters 1000 final, to meet five-time defending champion Rafael Nadal. It was the first all-Spanish final of a Masters 1000 event since Monte Carlo in 2002. However, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal. Despite the lopsided final, Verdasco had done enough to ensure a return to the Top 10, at number nine.

The following week, Verdasco played at the 2010 Barcelona Open as the fifth seed, where he defeated Robin Söderling to win his fifth career singles title.

In the 2010 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he played in his second semi-final appearance at the Masters 1000 level, he faced David Ferrer and lost. Verdasco’s next tournament was the Madrid Open, where he was seeded sixth. After receiving a bye in the first round, he defeated Ivo Karlović before falling to Jürgen Melzer.

Then, a week before the French Open, he reached his fourth final of the year at Nice by beating Leonardo Mayer in the semifinals. He then lost to Richard Gasquet in the final. During the third set, he was captured by a microphone yelling profanities about the crowd and was seen to sarcastically wave at them, after which the crowd booed him. He apologised after the match and before the French Open to everyone and stated that two fans had agitated him.