Fernando
Full name is Fernando Verdasco Carmona...Began playing tennis at age four with his father, Jose, at their home, which had two hard courts in the backyard...Father and mother, Olga, own a restaurant in Madrid...Has two sisters, Sara and Ana...Close friend of Feliciano Lopez, who is also from Madrid...Favorite soccer team is Real Madrid...His favorite non-tennis destination is Miami and goes there for holidays...Considers forehand his best shot...Posed nude for Cosmopolitan Magazine in July 2008 issue to raise awareness of male cancer for Everyman Campaign...Has a 9-6 career Davis Cup record (4-3 in singles) in nine ties...Coached by countryman Juan Luis Tati Rascon (since March 2008).
2002 -- In reached final at Segovia Challenger (d. Pioline, l. to Mutis)...In his second ATP outing in Sopot, defeated Puerta in 1st RD (l. to Squillari)...In doubles, won back-to-back Futures titles...
2003 -- Qualified six times during season, tied for second most for year, including Miami where he reached 3rd RD and Wimbledon (1st RD)...Turned in 3rd RD showing at US Open where he came in as a lucky loser and posted wins over No. 17 Robredo and Sanguinetti (l. to Srichaphan)...
2004 -- Won his first ATP title in Valencia without dropping a set (d. No. 3 Ferrero in SF, Montanes in F) and runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Moya)....Reached SF in Kitzbnhel...Advanced to back-to-back QF in Halle and 's-Hertogenbosch, and later in Stockholm...In doubles, claimed first ATP title in Stockholm (w/Lopez)...
2005 -- Reached third ATP final in Kitzbuhel (l. to Gaudio) and first AMS QF in Rome (d. Davydenko, Roddick; l. to Coria)...Also QF in New Haven and 4th RD at US Open (d. Henman in 1st RD, l. to Nieminen)...Reached SF in St. Petersburg...Went 2-4 vs. Top 10 opponents with both wins over No. 3 Roddick (Miami, Rome)...
2006 -- Made 3rd RD exit to Roddick at both AMS Indian Wells and Miami...Later lost to Roddick in five sets in 3rd RD at US Open...Reached SF in Valencia and Kitzbuehel ...Also QF at AMS Hamburg, Gstaad and Palermo... Achieved Wimbledon-best 4th RD (d. No. 3 Nalbandian in 3rd RD)...
2007 -- Finished in Top 30 for first time at No. 26 highlighted by runner-up in St. Petersburg (l. to Murray)...Compiled a 23-12 record from July-on after beginning first half of year with an 11-16 mark...Advanced to 4th RD at Roland Garros (d. Ferrer, l. to Djokovic) along with 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Roddick) and US Open (l. to Berdych)...In July, reached QF in Stuttgart (d. Ferrer, l. to Chela), SF in Kitzbuhel and followed with title at Segovia Challenger (d. A. Jones) in Spain...Finished with SF in Bangkok, QF in Tokyo...In doubles, reached final in Stuttgart (w/Garcia-Lopez).
2008 --The Madrid native finished in Top 20 for first time by winning a career-high 47 matches and his second ATP title...Helped his country to Davis Cup title (d. Argentina 3-1), clinching the tie with a five-set win over Acasuso...Also won doubles match and finished 3-1 (w/Lopez) during the year...After compiling a 9-10 mark in first four months, went 38-17 rest of season, highlighted by ATP title in Umag (d. Andreev) and runner-up in Nottingham (l. to Karlovic)....
Also SF in Bastad, New Haven and St. Petersburg and QF in three other tournaments...Best Grand Slam showing was 4th RD at Roland Garros (l. Nadal) and Wimbledon (l. to Ancic 13-11 in fifth set)...Went 1-6 vs. Top 10 opponents with lone win over No. 5 Ferrer at AMS Hamburg...Compiled marks of 22-16 on hard, 17-8 on clay and 8-3 on grass...Led Ricoh ATP MatchFacts in first serve percentage (73%)...Earned a career-high $977,961.
2009 -- The Madrid native compiled his best career season by finishing in Top 10 and qualifying for his first year-end championship at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London…Clinched Davis Cup title for second year in a row with doubles win (w/ Lopez) over Czech Republic…Captured his third career ATP World Tour title and reached two other finals while advancing to QFs or better in 13 tournaments, including his first eight through mid-May…He had a personal-best 15-4 mark in Grand Slam play…He opened year reaching his first ATP World Tour hard court final in Brisbane (l. to Stepanek) and followed with a career-best SF showing at Australian Open…Posted back-to-back wins over No. 4 Murray in five sets in 4th Rd. and No. 6 Tsonga in QF before falling in an epic five-set marathon (5:14) to countryman No. 1 Nadal…It was longest singles match in tournament history and afterwards broke into Top 10 for first time at No. 9 (from No. 15) on Feb. 2…He ranked in Top 10 every week rest of season except on Aug. 10…
Injured his left foot in Australia and withdrew from Dubai and first round Davis Cup tie vs. Serbia…Returned to action in March and reached QF in Indian Wells* before losing to No. 2 Federer…He followed with QF in Miami*, falling to eventual champion Murray…Opened his clay court campaign
with QF at Monte-Carlo*, losing to No. 3 Djokovic in three sets…Followed with QF in Barcelona and afterwards reached a career-high No. 7 on Apr. 20…He continued consistent play by reaching QF in Rome* and in hometown Madrid, losing to Nadal in both…Followed with 4th RD at Roland Garros for third straight year, losing to Davydenko…On grass went 4-3 with 4th Rd. showing at Wimbledon (l. to Karlovic in four sets) for third time in four years…Followed by helping his country to a 3-2 Davis Cup QF victory over Germany…Posted a five-set win over Beck in opening rubber and lost to Kohlschreiber in five sets in fourth rubber…
In August he earned his third ATP World Tour title in New Haven without dropping a set, capped off with win over Querrey… Continued strong play at US Open and reached QF for first time (l. to Djokovic in four sets)…In October, reached final in Kuala Lumpur (l. to Davydenko) and QF in Beijing…At Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, went 0-3 in round robin play, losing in three sets to Federer, del Potro and Murray…Compiled marks of 35-15 on hard, 13-7 on clay and 4-3 on grass…Struggled against Top 10 opponents (2-14)… Earned a career-high $1,916,630.
Began season at Australian Open, his seventh straight appearance, where he was named ninth seed…Progressed to 4th RD with wins over Ball, Sergeyev and Koubek, before falling to No. 6 seed Davydenko 62 75 46 67(5) 63...In February, as No. 2 seed he clinched his fourth ATP World Tour title at San Jose, beating No. 1 seed Roddick 36 64 63 in final...It was the first San Jose final featuring the top two seeds since 2002, when No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt defeated No. 2 Andre Agassi...First Spanish winner in the Bay Area since Manuel Santana earned the Berkeley title in 1964...He improved to 8-1 on season.