In only his second first-round loss at a major tournament, Nadal, 29, fought for four hours, 41 minutes before the inspired Verdasco won 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
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Rafael Nadal is out of the Australian Open following a surprising first round exit to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco who came from two sets to one down to beat the world number five.
In his pomp, Nadal’s forehand was the most destructive shot in the game but he was outpowered by Verdasco, who hit an incredible 90 winners to his opponent’s 37. You play against a player that has a good potential and he’s able to hit the ball so hard and take risk, then you are under pressure the rest of the match. “I don’t have any news because I’ve just come off the court”.
Israel’s lone representative in the singles tournaments advanced to the second round on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Benjamin Becker of Germany and surely thought he was set to face Nadal for a second straight year in Melbourne.
“To win against Rafa here coming from two sets down is unbelievable”, the 32-year-old, 45th-ranked Verdasco said. So I was hitting forehands, and he was able to keep hitting winners.
His all-or-nothing approach was shown by his 91 unforced errors as he trailed Nadal by two sets to one in an awesome hitting display on Rod Laver Arena.
It was a rough day at the office for the older Williams sister, who decided to make an even quicker exit from the tournament by skipping her post-match press conference. I’m like, you know I didn’t play again after that?
Zhang, ranked at 133 in the world, earned her first-ever victory at a Grand Slam as she proved too strong for the Romanian, emerging with a 6-3, 6-4 success.
Rafael Nadal has said that it was not his day after exiting the Australian Open in the opening round for the first time in his career.
Murray said he could have been more efficient in finishing off the exciting Zverev, but was happy to have won in straight sets.
If someone is going to keep Djokovic from his fifth major title in the last seven tournaments and his 11th of his career, look no further than the Stanimal.
“I think it’s irrelevant how old she is because she’s such a champion with so much experience and so much knowledge about the game”, Konta said. “I’m so excited” Shuai rejoiced after the match.
Verdasco had lost 14 of his previous 16 meetings against Nadal, but turned that around in some style at Melbourne Park.
Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka progressed to the second round after his opponent Dmitry Tursunov was forced into early retirement through injury, while Spain’s David Ferrer, seeded eighth, beat Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 6-4 6-4 6-2.
Also, Venus Williams’s dreams of winning a first Australian Open title at the age of 35 were shattered when she was beaten 6-4, 6-2 by British No. 1 Johanna Konta.
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Also safely through to the second round were Canada’s Milos Raonic and Frenchman Gael Monfils.
