2011 Davis Cup – Team Spain: Fernando Verdasco, Struggling to make his mark
Coming in behind David Ferrer in Team Spain, is world number 23 Fernando Verdasco. Team Spain readies itself to take on Team USA in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 Davis Cup from 8th to 10th July.
An offensive baseliner, Verdasco can play comfortably on all surfaces, with fast hard courts being his best. He considers his finest shot to be his forehand. His serve is quality of a left-handed player primarily using slice to
put together a lot of spin, and is capable of speeds above 230 km/h.
He is known for rivaling national Rafael Nadal with the amount of topspin he can put on a ball that partly explains his improved results since 2009, but still struggles with his nerves when facing the best players in the world.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semi-finals of the 2009 Australian Open where he lost to fellow citizen and eventual champion Rafael Nadal in five sets, in what was the longest match in Australian Open history.
Currently struggling in 2011, Verdasco has won 18 matches with 14 losses and no title win.
The Spaniard started his 2011 run losing in the first round of Brisbane International to Benjamin Becker and also failed to defend his title at the 2011 Kooyong Classic and got knocked out in the first round by Gael Monfils. He
also lost his chance in the 2011 Australian Open as he was knocked out by Tomas Berdych in the fourth round 4-6, 2-6, 3-6 due to an ailing foot injury.
He also played the 2011 SAP Open as the top seed, in San Jose, California where he was defending his championship but had his hopes crushed after losing to a first time finalist Milos Raonic. However, Verdasco had not lost one
set en route to the final.
Verdasco also had a long run in the Estoril Open in Portugal as he eased his way to the finals beating Frederico Gil in the first round and managed to get in the quarter finals. Fernando won his match with Kevin Anderson in the
quarter finals 7-6, 2-6, 3-6 and went on to qualify for the semi finals beating Milos Raonic. In the final match, Verdasco was over powered by Del Potro in straight sets.
Verdasco has aided Spain in winning two Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009. While Spain was not able to retain their title in 2010, they are proving to be a stronger side in 2011 Davis Cup as they
are powered by the world no.1 Rafael Nadal. In the first round this year, Spain won against Belgium. Fernando won his match against Xavier Malisse in a straight set win 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to assist Spain to a 4-1 easy victory against Belgium. The Spaniard’s Davis
Cup career has been satisfying as he has won 14 matches and lost 9 with wins mostly on hard court.
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