Fernando Verdasco’s Australian Open campaign remained in full swing as he carved out a victory over last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn a place in a semifinal of a major for the first time in his career.
As the temperatures soared to 43 degrees outside, it was a cool and composed Verdasco that took to the roof-covered Rod Laver Arena stage to make his first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance and etch out a 7-6(2) 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
The No.14 seed, who recorded a shock defeat over Andy Murray in the fourth round, may have appeared nervous moments before the match – he spilt a drink and dropped an apple in the player restaurant - but by the time he was called to do battle, he appeared to have everything under control.
The first set was a close affair largely played from the back of the court. After games went on serve, it was Verdasco that assumed control of the tiebreak. A combination of two aces and backhand and forehand winners set the Spaniard in good stead. Meanwhile, Tsonga began missing first serves, fired off a wild forehand and netted a backhand to lose the first set.
The Frenchman soon regained form, however, firing on all cylinders to snap up the second 6-3.
Come the third, Verdasco was on fire. He moved the Frenchman all over the court, and when the opportunity arose, he blasted the life out of the ball. A tired Tsonga, meanwhile, was struggling, and when Verdasco found himself in possession of two set points on serve, the third set looked destined to be his.
But then he tightened up, serving a double fault. An astonishing point then followed when a Verdasco stroke clipped the net and Tsonga returned the ball through his legs to eventually win it.
A third set point chance arose when Tsonga netted a volley. Controversy then ensued. The Spaniard hit what appeared to be a winning groundstroke, but it was called out. Verdasco challenged; he was right and the point had to be replayed.
Instead of becoming agitated, the 25-year-old simply smiled and remained calm. He then served what appeared to be an ace, but a let was then called. When the point finally got underway, Tsonga hit the ball out to give Verdasco the set.
The Spaniard continued to grow in confidence in the fourth, approaching the net as the Frenchman began to fade. Interestingly, the Spaniard capitalised on all four of his break point opportunities throughout the match, whereas Tsonga only took two of his 13 chances.
"I'm feeling pretty good and I just want to go out there for first time in semifinals in Grand Slam and enjoy that moment, do my best, just enjoy and try my best," said Verdasco after the match. "Right now I'm believing so much about me, about my game, I'm feeling pretty good, and I just think that I can beat anyone. But, you know, the same way that I can win, I can lose. I'm playing with the best players in the world. Of course, they are always tough matches."
The Spaniard, who has been working with Andre Agassi's fitness trainer Gil Reyes, has also taken on board some words of wisdom from the four-time Australian Open champion, who just happens to be his idol.
"He was just giving me advices about, you know, what he thinks about all this, about what tournaments I need to play or which weeks I need to practice and be ready for the big tournaments. Also about tactics, and about my game, how he thinks that I should play more and take more advantage of my game. We was speaking for two hours, so we spoke a lot. But he really help me so much. I'm so happy to had that conversation with him."
If Rafael Nadal defeats Gilles Simon tonight, it will be the first time in Australian Open history that two Spanish men have met in the semifinals.
Quick facts
Verdasco served at 79 per cent for the match, and served seven aces to Tsonga’s nine
Tsonga hit 46 winners to Verdasco’s 36, but made 40 unforced errors to Verdasco’s 29
Verdasco capitalised on all four of the break point chances he had on Tsonga’s serve, while the Frenchman was just 2-for-13 on break point opportunities (15 per cent)
The Spaniard won 14 of the 20 points where he approached the net
Source:www.australianopen.com
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