(click to make it bigger)

The top four seeds of the Malaysian Open (in reverse order!) Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, Robin Soderling of Sweden, Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia (L-R) pose in front of Malaysia’s landmark Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur September 29, 2009. The players are competing in the Malaysian Open this week. REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim (MALAYSIA SPORT)

(via daylife)

Nando is postponing his foot surgery to try and qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November. He also hopes to play in the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic in December.

As only the top eight in the world can qualify for the Year End Finals, Nando can’t afford to miss any changes to raise his rankings. In addition to the Malaysian Open, China Open and Shanghai Masters, he will also play the Valencia Open and the Paris Masters, in order to try and earn enough ranking points to qualify. He has recovered from his abdominal injury and is postponing the surgery on his foot until the off-season.

“I was supposed to undergo surgery on my left foot after the US Open earlier this month, but when I went home to Spain, my doctor told me I will need three weeks to recuperate. If I had it done, I would not be able to make it here for the Malaysian Open.

“The doctor also told me that I can postpone the surgery as it would not affect me. My focus is to qualify for the World Finals and help Spain win the Davis Cup.”

“I want to experience the feeling of winning at home as our victory last year was celebrated in Argentina.”

Nando’s first opponent in Kuala Lumpur will be Karol Beck from Slovakia, who defeated qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round to advance. Nando got a bye in the second round, so this will be his first match back after his quarterfinal appearance at the US Open.

Here’s another gem from hcfoo, an interview where he answers some questions about a variety of things.

Be sure to go over to her blog to thank her for the great interview, and make sure you check her blog out, she’s got some great pictures of the top four seeds of the Malaysian Open (including Nando!) posing for a photoshoot in front of the Petronas Towers. Very cool!

Vamos Nando, and good luck in your first match!

Courtesy of the lovely hcfoo, here are some pictures of Fernando and Feli arriving in Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon, along with Fernando’s parents and two older ladies who are probably part of the giant family entourage Fernando sometimes travels with. You can click on the pictures for bigger versions. Enjoy ツ

These pictures are posted with permission from hcfoo, so please don’t repost unless you have her permission!

Click the image to make it bigger :]

Nando has a bye in the first round and he’ll face either Karol Beck or a qualifer in the second round. Bit disappointed to see he and Feli didn’t sign up for doubles, but I suppose considering they’re both probably still a little injured, they’re taking it easy. Hope to see them team up again in Shanghai!

Fernando was honored with the Premios Siete Estrellas del Deporte 2008 award for Best Male Athlete earlier this month. The award, which is given to outstanding athletes from Madrid, is for his performance in last year’s Davis Cup semifinal against Germany and in the final against Argentina, as well as his exceptional results the first half of the year including his spectacular run to the semifinals at the Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals of the first five Masters events of the year (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid) and his breakthrough into the ATP’s top ten for the first time in February.

Enhorabuena, Fer!

source

Contrary to rumours, Fernando WILL be participating in the Malaysian Open next week. He’s due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on September 28 for the ATP 250 series tournament, where he’s seeded second with a bye in the first round.

He took a break after the US Open to deal with his foot and abdominal injuries, withdrawing from last weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal against Israel. But Fernando was out in full force to cheer on the rest of the Armada, telling an interviewer that he wouldn’t miss it for anything:

“They are my teammates and my team. I couldn’t play, but I had to be here. I think we’ll win 4-1 and I’ll be the first to wildly applaud our victory. I hope to be in the final, I’m sure we’ll play and I hope by then to do what I could not do here. “

Spain, of course, did win 4-1 and so hopefully Fernando will be fit for the final, which will be played in Spain, probably on a clay court, in early December. Meanwhile, I’ve seen reports that Fernando opted to skip out on getting his foot surgery because the recovery time would’ve been up to three weeks, and because he wants to try to make the London Year-End Championships, he needs to play the three events he was scheduled for in Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai) and so he’s back training this week. Hopefully this means his abdominal problems are healed though. If I find a reliable source, I’ll post it :) Buena suerte, Fer!

source 1 & source 2

Tennis Channel aired a few special shorts during the US Open highlighting adidas’s Player Development Program. This is a combination of these videos, featuring Nando as well as WTA players Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki. If you go to Tennis Channel TV, click on US Open Tonight and scroll down to “Day 4 Agassi and Verdasco” you can watch Nando’s full video. It’s really interesting, so check it out!

With Nando and Rafa cheering them on, the Spanish Armada has advanced to the Davis Cup final for the second year in a row!

Feliciano López / Tommy Robredo def. Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2

Juanqui and Ferru are scheduled to play the reverse singles dead rubbers tomorrow, but no matter the outcome, Spain will face the Czech Republic this December 4-6 for the chance to grab a consecutive Davis Cup final. If they win, it will be their four final in 9 years.

Great news from the Spanish Davis Cup team’s official Facebook page (translated into English):

Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco will be in Murcia this weekend to support their Spanish Davis Cup team-mates in their qualifying semi-final against Israel. The news was confirmed during the draw by Jose Luis Escañuela, president of the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation, who explained that “It’s a great honour for the president of the federation and all of Spanish tennis to be able to count on such a human group of players who have created a great team and who represent Spain in a such admirable way.”

Vamos España!