Fernando Verdasco-The Late Bloomer

Verdasco has found his game after he started training outslde of his home in Las Vegas with tennis legend Andre Agassi, repected tennis coach Darren Cahill and fitness trainer Gil Reyes who was responsible for Agassi's fitness when he was still on tour. Verdasco is sponsered by Adidas and the training camp in Las Vegas is sponsored by Adidas as well. There is no doubt working with these people has made a big difference to Verdasco's game.

He is in the physical shape of his life thanks to Reyes, Cahill is one of the best coaches around and having a legend like Agassi around to hit with and get tips from certainly can't hurt either. He seems to have found the right team of people and motivation to finally make the most of the huge talent he's been blessed with. He has one of the biggest serves on tour, he is a great athlete and his biggest attribute is his killer forehand. It is one of the feared shots on tour, all opponents know Verdasco can use it to dominate a match.

Verdasco has entered the top 10 in the rankings for the first time this year and is now threatening to go even higher. How high can he go? My opinion is he has the game to get right up into the top 5. From there on he will have to replace guys like Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic to get any higher. That would be hard, so for now he should try to get into the top 5 first. To go even higher then that takes something extra, something special. I think he has the game once again but he would really need to believe.



At 25 Verdasco ins't getting any younger in terms of tennis, but taking into account he is a late bloomer I don't see why he still can't go a long way in the game. He is a great athlete and given that he stays injury free he can still play at the top level for at least 5 years. His talent will also help him to stay there for longer. Someone like Agassi won grand slam titles into his thirties, so nothing is impossible. It's a matter of looking after yourself and staying in shape.

Is Verdasco the future of tennis? My guess is he will certainly play a part at the top level of tennis for some time to come. Just how far he can go will be up to him. I'm sure his ultimate goal is to win a grand slam event and it's certainly not an impossibility. He has all the shots, it's just a matter of putting it all together at the top level. At the Austalian Open this year he already showed that he can take some big scalps and that he can go deep into a grand slam and compete with the very best.

I'm looking forward to see what the future holds for Verdasco as he is one of my favorite players and his unique shot making abilities makes him very good to watch.

Verdasco is quite the ladies man, and judging by his fame and physical appearence that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. He used to date Anna Ivanovic from the WTA(Women's Tennis Association), but apparently she grew tired of him and dumped him *sigh*. Anyway that happened before the Australian Open after which Verdasco went on to beat pre tournament favorite Andy Murray, 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and ended up losing in one of the best matches of all time against eventual tournament winner Rafael Nadal.

So if anything Ivanovic's departure has made him a better tennis player. Many people were saying he was out of her league but I say she is out of his league. Ivanovic is slightly more succesful in the women's game but men's tennis and womens's tennis is almost two different sports. The men's game is just played on a way higher level then women's tennis that it's hard to even compare. And besides he is not a bad looking guy. I'm sure he's not too phased about Ivanovic dumping him, and proved that by his results without her.

Verdasco is now dating gorgeous actress Camilla Bell. They have been spotted together at the Indian Wells tournament at which Verdasco was once again playing some impressive tennis. So it's not like he is doing bad. I wouldn't be surprised if Ivanovic is now regretting she broke up with the hunk of tennis...

Verdasco and Belle at a New York night club.

Verdasco just finished the North American hard court season justifying his place in the top 10 by making the quarter finals in both the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami. In Miami he had played some very good tennis and obliterated world number 24 Richard Gasquet who is a very talented player 6-3, 6-2. He eventually bowed out to tennis legend Roger Federer 6-3, 7-6.

In Indian Wells he once again had an impressive win over world number 19 Radek Stepanek who has been one of the best players on tour so far this season. The score was 6-2, 6-2. In the next round he lost to Andy Murray who he had beaten earlier this year in the Australian Open of course in five close sets.This time Murray, who won the tournament, would have his revenge though with a surprisingly easy victory, 6-1, 6-2.

The match against Murray was not very impressive and I think it is safe to say that was the old Verdasco. He didn't seem to fight very hard to get back in the match at all, which is what he used to do before he matured. That is only one bad match this year so far though so we will give him a break. Next is the clay court season where he has the game to do really well, maybe even challenge the king of clay Rafael Nadal himself!

Vamos Nando!

Verdasco has continued his consistency into the 2009 clay court season that we have seen from him so far. After Miami he played played five clay court events starting with Monte Carlo, then Barcelona, then Rome, then Madrid and finally the French Open. In the first four tournaments he made quarter-finals, and at the French Open he lost in the fourth round. By making the quarter-finals of the first four events he didn't have any big breakthrough wins, but at least lost against good players.

They include Djokovic, Gonzalez and twice to Nadal. At the French Open he lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to Davydenko, which would have been a disappointing loss for him. Especially after he stated before the tournament that he is going there to win the title. He would at least have wanted to make the quarter finals, but it wasn't to be. Verdasco deserves a lot of credit for how he improved his consistancy this year. Yet I can't help but feel he should be in the top five with the amount of talent he has been blessed with.

Against the very top players like Nadal he seems to lose it mentally at the important moments. He just goes for the wrong shots at the wrong times, making himself look silly at times. It can be quite frustrating to watch. The next step for Verdasco is to become a better match player by playing better in the big points. We have seen him do it at the Australian Open earlier this year, so we know he can do it. I really hope he can do it because he is such a talent and really good to watch when playing well.