Fernando Verdasco beat Andy Roddick to take the win in San Jose, California, at the SAP Open on Sunday. This makes Verdasco's 4th career title and his first win against any of the top 10 players after 15 straight losses to tennis' best. Verdasco lost to Nikolay Davydenko in round 4 of the Australian Open in January, and lost in 3 sets to Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and #1 Roger Federer at the end of last year. Verdasco kept getting right to the end but never managed to pull it out for the win, until yesterday.
Roddick took a 3-2 lead by the end of the first 5 games of the last set. Verdasco got a break point, the only one in the final set, in the 9th game, then Roddick hit one into the net to give Verdasco a 5-4 advantage. Verdasco then lost 2 points in serves and won the last 4. He shot an ace that reached 141 miles per hour and brought the score 30-all. Roddick hit the ball too long, and Verdasco scored ace #15 to win.
Verdasco says he served better in sets 2 and 3 than he did in the first set, and was more aggressive with Roddick, pushing him more and forcing play inside the court and closer to the net. Verdasco lost his 7 previous matches against Roddick, with only 2 previous wins against him. And only one was a completed win in 3 sets; the other was when Roddick retired during a match in 2005.
With this win, Verdasco becomes the first player from Spain to win in California's Bay area since 1964, when Manuel Santana won a title in Berkeley. Roddick said Verdasco has definitely improved over the past couple of years.
At one point, Roddick threw his racket at the net, clearly unhappy with his shot. He also sent a ball into the second deck, and received a code violation warning from the match umpire. During the 6th game, Roddick clashed with the officials for not calling a ball out that he insisted had been outside the line, telling them that they can't see if the ball is an inch out. As Verdasco lead that game 4-2, Roddick, still clearly frustrated, screamed into his towel that they needed automatic scorekeepers and to make all of them machines.
Roddick had been unsure whether or not he'd even be able to play here. During the Australian Open, he lost feeling in some of his fingers because of a pinched nerve injury. But despite his outburst during the matches, he seemed content with his play afterwards. He said because he was underprepared and hadn't had enough practice time, he thought he did well enough. Verdasco also almost didn't play at the SAP open because of a leg nerve injury that kept him from being able to practice as extensively as he would have liked.
The doubles winners at the Sap Open were Americans Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish, who defeated Leonardo Mayer 7-6, 7-5.
Photo Credits: mirsasha
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