Fernando Verdasco’s five set victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open first round was a headlining result for many reasons. The Tennis Review gives you five of them.
Verdasco was one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw
A former top tenner and Australian Open semi-finalist, Verdasco, ranked 45, was one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw.
The fact Verdasco had not won back to back matches since Wimbledon did not matter. What really mattered was that he had won back to back matches at Wimbledon, and beat rising star Dominic Thiem and big-hitting Martin Kilizan (13-11 in the fifth) on his way to the last 32 there.
Verdasco is a big match player, has over 12 years of experience of playing five set matches at slams ( he has a 90-51 win-loss record), and has a long history of playing elite players on big slam stages. He is not the kind of player you want to see opposite you in the nervy circumstances of a Grand Slam first round.
Nadal had been getting better results the past six months and was expected to make the last eight at least
Rafael Nadal is nowhere close to where he was the last time he came up against Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open in 2009. Back then he was world No.1 and the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion.
The Nadal who Verdasco beat in Melbourne this Australian Open was ranked no. 5, had not won a slam since Roland Garros 2014, and had not made it past the quarters of one since then.
He is a lot better, however, than when he met Verdasco back at the Sony Open last season when he lost in three sets, losing only his second match to his countryman in 16 matches.
Since that Miami loss, Nadal recovered from a heavy defeat to Djokovic at the French Open, another early Wimbledon loss, and his first loss at a slam from two sets to love up when he went down to Fabio Fognini at the US Open. Nadal got his game in good enough shape to take a set off Federer in the Basel final back in October and by the end of the year had gotten back to the top five and ended the season with ATP WTF wins over Wawrinka, Murray and Ferrer.
More recently, he had been to the Doha finals. That last match though was not a confidence boosting one as Djokovic beat him 6-1, 6-2.
This is not the first time Nadal has gone down in a slam outside of the French Open to a big hitting aggressive underdog
If Nadal was a little shocked by the severity of his Doha Djokovic defeat then the last type of player he needed to meet on a hot day on a hard court was the big hitting, aggressive kind. The kind similar to Dustin Brown or Lukas Rosol. The kind who have a tendency to knock him out of Slams in the early rounds.
Fernando Verdaso was certainly aggressive- he struck 90 winners in a high risk approach, particularly on the forehand and mid-court which also saw him hit 91 errors. Verdasco also served 20 aces and won 25/27 net points. That’s about as aggressive as it gets, and more than Nadal, whose overly defensive game has gotten him into trouble many times on a hard court, can handle.
This was the first time Nadal has gone out in the Australian Open first round and a Hard Court slam’s opening round.
Nadal’s only other first round defeat at a slam was Wimbledon 2013 when he lost to big serving big hitting Steve Darcis whose efforts left the Belgian injured and unable to play his second round match.
Only his second first round loss in 44 slam appearances- that is all that needs to be said about Nadal’s form now compared to back when his losing in the first round was something that was simply unheard of.
Rafael Nadal might need to change his coach.
The sight of Nadal chasing Verdasco winners as that 2-0 final set lead vanished before him told you how helpless he was. You only had to watch Nadal’s press conference to see how shocked he was he had gone out to a man who was supposed to test him not upset him.
The confidence, if it had come back at all, was now back to where it was around the time of his US Open defeat to Fabio Fognini. How Nadal is going to rebuild his A game-the steady at times dangerous serving, the aggressive forehand down the line, the pinpoint accuracy of his ground strokes- is going to be interesting to say the least. Is he going to keep trying to put back together a game that lately so easily falls apart or will he do what Djokovic and Federer have done- bring in a new coach to develop the aggressive sides of their games.
Most likely Nadal would keep Uncle Toni, his lifelong coach, as his boss. Another one is unthinkable it seems. But so was, to many, Nadal losing in the first round of this year’s Australian Open.
What do you think was interesting of the Verdasco defeat of Nadal in the Australian Open’s first round? Let us know in the comments below.
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