After all, it was Verdasco who hung tough with Nadal for more than five hours in the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, taking Nadal the distance before falling in the final set.
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No. 3 Garbine Muguruza needed exactly an hour to beat Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-4, No. 11 Timea Bacsinszky advanced over Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 7-5 and No. 15 Madison Keys, a semifinalist here past year, had to save set points in the first before beating Zarina Diyas 7-6 (5), 6-1. But at 2-1 sets down going into the fourth, Verdasco may have figured that if he is to lose again to Nadal he might as well go down swinging.
Verdasco hit 90 winners on Tuesday, including 41 off his forehand, to move through to the second round of Australian Open 2016.
But Verdasco overcame an early break in the fifth set to turn the tables on his good friend, in the process delivering the 14-times major victor only his second first-round loss in 44 grand slam appearances.
“The match is a tough loss for me obviously. It is tough when you work so much and arrived at a very important event and you’re going out too early”.
It was the first time Nadal had lost in the opening round of a major tournament since his shock loss to Steve Darcis at Wimbledon in 2013.
“I don’t know how, just, you know I was closing the eyes and everything was coming in and I keep doing it and I was doing well”. “If you decide everything in one set, the opponent is ready to hit all the balls at 100 percent, then you are in trouble”, Nadal added.
Nadal won a Grand Slam title every year for a decade from 2005 to take his total to 14. “But let me eat first… otherwise I will be dead”, he joked. I was practicing a little bit different, trying to be more inside the court.
“I just think that it should be tennis that does a better job of explaining”, Murray said.
“Of course, I thought many days, many times about that semi-final”.
Konta, ranked 47th in the world, claimed a 6-4 6-2 victory over seven-time grand slam champion Williams – who had her left thigh heavily strapped – to reach the second round.
HEWITT’S SWANSONG? Hewitt has never played countryman Duckworth on the ATP Tour, but could soon have him on his Davis Cup team, possibly as soon as March against the United States in the first World Group round in Melbourne.
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka enjoyed one of the most one-sided wins of her career when she “double-bagelled” Alisan Van Uytvanck 6-0, 6-0 in just 53 minutes.
Nadal, 29, had spoken of bringing “happy feelings” to Melbourne Park, having arrived at his healthiest in years, following a taxing off-season training camp. “You have to be proactive with things like this and go and speak to the players rather than them reading about it in the newspapers or listening to it on the TV or the radio”.
“I think it would be silly to look at Venus’ age and somehow consider that as a reflection of her level”, said the 24-year-old.
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“I’m hoping my phone hasn’t been buzzing in my bag”.
