31E6A1BF-ED12-49C2-9C73-E426684C6F64
By Richard Pagliaro
© Andy Kentla
© Natasha Peterson/Corleve
(September 7, 2010) Fernando Verdasco spent this New York night engaged in an epic tennis tug-of-war with compatriot David Ferrer with neither man giving an inch over five sets and four hours, 23 minutes of scintillating shotmaking that seemed to cover every available inch of court. Grinding his teeth, screaming at himself at times and hurling his body all over the court in pursuit of every ball, a combative Verdasco competed with all the tenacity of a man fighting his way out of a rugby scrum in roaring back from a two-set deficit and a 1-4 chasm in the fifth-set tie breaker.
When Verdasaco's match point moment came, he seized it with the most electrifying effort of the match.
Running down a Ferrer shot well behind the baseline, Verdasco stumbled slightly, regained his balance then sprinted forward to lift a lunging forehand pass up the line — an exceptional exclamation point to punctuate a 5-7, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory that vaulted Verdasco into the US Open quarterfinals for the second straight year.
"After I lost the first two sets, of course, it's tough," Verdasco said. "You just need to win all the other sets. I came back till the fifth set and of course even that I was 4-1 down in the tie break, I was not going to say 'Okay, that's it. I was going to try my best until the end. I was, of course, with 4-1 down in the tie break much more chances to lose than to win, but I just kept fighting and trying."
When Verdasco saw Ferrer near net, he anticipated the volley, streaked forward on a diagonal line and was near the doubles alley when he caught up to the ball. Reaching the ball was a feat in itself, it's what Verdasco did with it that will make this shot one for the highlight reel.
Seeing a sliver of space up the line, he squeezed his stretch forehand down the line, watched the ball land and then fell flat on his back, staring straight up into the white lights as the crowd exploded in support.
"(It) is tough to explain. You are with your sixth sense in the ball knowing how important that is just trying to run, fight," Verdasco said. "When I did the backhand along the line passing shot, I was like even surprised that he took the volley. Of course my reaction was just keeping the point and start running forward...So I start running I just saw the space. When you see there is a little bit of space, you just try to put the ball in. It was like unbelievable."
The eighth-seeded Spaniard will face World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the first all-Spanish US Open quarterfinal in Open Era history. Nadal crushed a crackling forhand winner to conclude an impressive 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 23rd-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Will Verdasco, who is winless in 10 career meetings with Nadal, have any legs left for the quarterfinal?
"I hope that this is gonna give me big confidence, this match," Verdasco said. "And I also hope to be 100 percent physically after a tough match like today to play against one player like Nadal that you need to be like 100 percent to try to face him, to try to beat him. I will just try to do all the things right and good as best as possible. Everybody knows that he's No. 1 in the world; he's a great plaeyr. My record is not too good against him. But I will keep trying and keep fighting to make the first time here."
It was a crushing loss for Ferrer, who had not dropped a set in his three tournament wins.
The 10th-seeded Ferrer was three points from victory at 4-1 in the tie breaker, but could not seal the deal. Verdasco cracked a crosscourt backhand winner then took advantage of three Ferrer errors to earn match point.
Speaking in a clear, quiet voice with a half-full bottle of Evian at his finger tips, Ferrer was left ruing the match that slipped through his fingers.
"Verdasco played really well," Ferrer said. "But from 4-1 up, I play so bad, so bad. I have a chance in the third set and he played really good. I fight a lot, as hard as I could. It was difficult one."
It was such a ferociously fought match, Verdasco actually apologized to Ferrer in the locker room after the match.
"He told me 'Well done.' " Verdasco said. "I told him, like 'I'm really sorry.' Then I told him like you know that we need to keep fighting to be both in the Masters Cup. We have a great relationship. Of course when you lose a match like this today for him, if I lost this match for sure I (would be) so upset and pissed in the locker room. But at the end we are good friends and I want (for) him the best."
They brought out the best in each other tonight.