Fernando Verdasco, Spanish tennis player
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando βeɾˈðasko kaɾˈmona]; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, where he lost to compatriot and eventual champion Rafael Nadal in five sets. The match itself has been considered one of the greatest Grand Slam semifinals of all time. Verdasco has also reached the quarterfinals twice at the US Open, in 2009 and 2010, losing to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal respectively, the latter of whom went on to win the title, and once at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, where he led eventual champion Andy Murray by two sets to love before being defeated in five sets.
In singles, the Spaniard won the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell and six ATP 250 tournaments and was a finalist at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and five ATP 500 tournaments. In men's doubles, he won the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals and three ATP 500 tournaments and was a finalist at the 2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters, all of them partnering with David Marrero. He earned his 500th win at the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open becoming the 45th man in ATP World Tour history with 500 wins. He is currently No. 6 on the list of active players with over 500 wins.Verdasco aided Spain in winning three Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009, he was part of the winning team in 2011 as well.
Verdasco has the third-most losses in singles history, behind Feliciano López and Fabrice Santoro.
Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight. Verdasco worked in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and his team, including Darren Cahill (Agassi's former coach) and Gil Reyes (Agassi's fitness coach).