Best Matchpoint ever by Fernando Verdasco

By 

FOLKERT HESSE

Not all the internal affairs between two good friends and players from the same country and Davis-Cup teams are always good matches. But this one was! And it was the best match of this years US-Open so far.

Fernando Verdasco

When Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer met on Louis Armstrong Stadium at 4 p.m. in the afternoon they did not get all the attention form the New York fans right away. But 4 hours and 23 minutes later the stadium was packed with emphatic fans cheering as loud as they possibly could and rising from their seats to give both players a standing ovation for the best match at this US-Open, and maybe for all of 2010 so far.

It was Fernando Verdasco, who made several comebacks during this encounter between two good friends, and finished the match in a style the tennis world has not seen so far. It was the best and most spectacular matchpoint I have ever seen. It ended the match in the tie-breaker of the fifth set with the score of 7:4 for Verdasco.

Check out the video to see the whole point at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEuAyEkRwrM

But it was not only this match point that put an exclamation mark to this match. The whole match was hard to top in dramatics and shot making. Ferrer tok a 2 set lead which was sealed by a tight tie-breaker in the second set ending at 10:8 for Ferrer. And Ferrer was also up with a break in the fifth set and was leading 4:1 in the tie-breaker of the fifth set. But all that was not enough to beat Fernando Verdasco yesterday. The good looking Spaniard showed unbelievable willpower and never gave up, no matter what score. Especially against a master of footwork and fighting spirit, like David Ferrer, his performance was simply amazing.

He will be tired but loaded with confidence for his meeting with Rafael Nadal in the Quarterfinal. And the semi-final match against Nadal at the Australian Open 2 years ago, was probably the second best match of his career, even though he lost it.

Nadal has a great record against Verdasco but he never faced him with this much confidence yet. And with “only” Youzhny or Wawrinka waiting in a potential semi-final, he should not put too much pressure on himself to miss this great opportunity to reach his first US-Open final.

There are some great matches coming at us at the Open, Federer facing Soderling and Monfils against Djokovic today and tomorrow you should look out for Nadal against Verdasco!

F. HESSE

HESSE TENNIS TRAINING

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Clay Court Season 2010 - a Latin Love Affair!

BY 


FOLKERT HESSE 




The first month of the European clay court season is over an it is time for a short check-up on who is among the favorites for the French Open.

So far it is only a handful of players who were able to claim a clay court title this year and in April all of them carried a Spanish passport.

But the rest of the season was pretty much a Latin love affair, as well. Only one “white boy” was able to claim one of the 9 tournament titles handed out on the red dirt this year.

And guess where he is from?!? –Switzerland of course. But surprise, surprise – it was not Roger who did it. It was Stan Wawrinka who took the title in Casablanca, Marocco in the beginning of April.

All the other winner came either from Spain or South America. Nadal took the two ATP-1000 series titles in April, Juan Carlos Ferrero also captured two titles and fellow spainiards Verdasco and Ferrer won one event. The other two winners are Brasilian Thomasz Belluci and Juan Ignacio Chela from Argentina.

So, who else will be among the contenders for the French this year?

For sure it is Roger, who has an easy draw in Estoril this week and will probably win and get some confidence for his title defense in Madrid.

Robin Soderling, who reached at least a final against Verdasco, is also playing quite well and might have a chance to get to the semis at Roland Garros.

The most disappointing performance comes from Murray and Djokovic who did not do much damage on clay yet. But as soon as the French start and we will play best of five  sets, they will be there again, I’m sure. But I don’t see more than a quarterfinal for them.

Del Potro and Davydenko are still out because of injuries and this made it much easier for the Spanish clay court specialists so far. But at least Davydenko might be back for the French. But it remains uncertain, if he can show up with confidence and some clay court wins in his bag.

So, far it all looks like a Latin love affair in Paris or Nadal and Federer again will get it on again... ;)

Let’s see…

F. HESSE

HESSE TENNIS TRAINING

High Performance Training and Coaching for Top Juniors and Professionals

WWW.HESSETENNISTRAINING.COM

WWW.HESSETENNISTRAINING.BLOGSPOT.COM

Folkert Hesse Tennis