No. 21 Verdasco stuns No. 4 Murray at Australian Open; No. 1 Nadal advances

Spaniard No. 21 seed Fernando Verdasco (pictured) rallied to upset pre-tournament favorite and No. 4 seed Andy Murray, 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in Melbourne. World No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam singles champion Rafael Nadal also advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating 2007 runner-up No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez.

Attempting to become the first British player to win a Grand Slam title since 1936, Murray got off to a quick start winning the opening set in 35-minutes backed by breaking serve in the third and seventh games of the set. In the second set Verdasco converted on three of 11 break point opportunities to win the set in 41-minutes. In the third set, Murray raced ahead to a 3-0 lead and broke serve again in the sixth game. En route to winning the 31-minute set, the 21-year-old Scot smashed 10 winners and hit three unforced errors, while Verdasco hit only three winners and committed 11 unforced errors. After the 25-year-old Spaniard Davis Cup hero got ahead 3-0 in the fourth set, the British fans got increasingly loud, hoping to spark Murray for a comeback. Verdasco remained very poised by ripping many inside out forehand winners and making a high percentage of first serves, winning the set in 35-minutes and sending the match to a deciding set. In a pivotal sixth game of the final set, Verdasco saved two break points and leveled the match at 3-all after a six deuce game. In the very next game the Madrid native, who had never advanced past the second round in Melbourne until this year, broke serve and went ahead 4-3. Holding serve during his final two service games, Verdasco won the match on his third match point after the visibly worn out Murray netted a service return.

“I was feeling confident and fit,” Verdasco said. “I just tried to play my game.”

A finalist at the Brisbane International during the first week of this season, Verdasco smashed 51 winners and 10 aces and won 69 of 100 first serve points throughout the three hour and 12 minute match. Both players were able to break serve on five occasions, but it came down to who was the fittest in the final set and Verdasco clearly showed that he had lots of energy left in him. Verdasco has recently spent countless hours training in Las Vegas with Gil Reyes, former physical trainer for Andre Agassi. The win by Verdasco marks the first time he has reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal and now improves to 8-31 lifetime against Top 10 players on the ATP World Tour. An owner of nine career ATP singles titles, Murray falls to 8-1 on the season and drops his first loss to a left-hander that is not Rafael Nadal. Verdasco next faces 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the semifinals.

In another routine performance by defending Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion in the grueling Melbourne heat, Nadal easily defeated Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, in one hour and 55-minutes. Wasting no time in the opening set, the 22-year-old Spaniard won 12 of 13 points to start the set and broke the hard-hitting Chilean’s serve twice. In the third set, Nadal got down 0-3, but quickly rallied to go ahead 5-3, before closing out the match in convincing fashion on his own serve. Backed by 33 winners and four aces, Nadal advances to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. The left-hander from Mallorca is looking to win his first career hard court Grand Slam singles title. Nadal will next clash with No. 6 seed Gilles Simon for a place in the final four.

Other Fourth Round Results from Monday
No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. No. 9 James Blake, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3)
No. 6 Gilles Simon def. No. 12 Gael Monfils, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, ret. injury