Fernando suffered a tough loss to Argentine Juan Monaco during his quarterfinal match at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, with a straight set defeat 5-7, 3-6. Fernando advanced to the finals in his only prior visit to Acapulco in 2004.

Fernando previously survived a first round scare against Italian Fabio Fognini, losing the first set 2-6 before coming back to win the match 6-4, 6-0. He had a fairly routine straight set victory against Lukasz Kubot, 6-4, 6-3, befoer reaching the quarterfinals and losing to Monaco.

Fernando is back in the top ten this week, thanks to a little help from Julien Benneteau. Benneteau defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last week in the semifinals in Marseille, and because Jo couldn’t defend his title, he slipped in the rankings. So even though Fernando didn’t gain any points from his first round loss in Memphis, he re-enters the top ten! Fernando also has no points to defend this coming week (he did not play between the Australian Open and Indian Wells last year due to an injury) so depending on how Cilic does in Dubai, Fernando could possibly regain the #9 ranking in time for Indian Wells!

Fernando will replace Gael Monfils in next week’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel, according to the tournament’s website. Gael had to withdraw from the tournament due to swelling in his knee, so Fernando stepped in to take his place. This means he’ll also displace Fernando Gonzalez as top seed.

This is Fernando second trip to Acapulco. His first was back in 2004, when he reached the final (losing to compatriot Carlos Moya)

(via albierto mexicano)

Fernando is featured in the new Montenegro Method DVD along with fellow Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Carlos Moya. You can view more here as well as peek around the rest of the official site

Fernando’s title-winning euphoria came to a bit of a halt today with a surprise first round loss to Jeremy Chardy of France, 6-7⁴, 3-6 in the first round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis.

“With just one day in between matches and in different conditions and not being able to practice on the stadium court before the match, it was difficult,” he said. “And it was difficult for me to get the timing. But he played a great match. He served really good.”

It’s a rough loss, but on the plus side, it gives Fernando almost two weeks off to rest, recover and heal his sciatic nerve injury before the upcoming March-April Masters tournaments. It also means that it may give him time to make himself available to play in Spain’s first round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland on March 5-7.

VERDASCO ON TOP
by Sebastian del Marmol

Some people never know what they were destined to be. Fernando Verdasco knew before he turned 1. Or at least according to a Verdasco family legend, which tells the story of a crying baby who could only be placated by the rhythmic thumping of a tennis ball on television.

“I don’t know if it was the sound of the ball or what, but when they put on a match I stopped crying. From that point forward, every time I cried they put tennis on,” Fernando says.

Since then, the 26-year-old athlete has gone on to have a successful tennis career, consistently ranking in the top 15 in the ATP World Singles rankings. So how does Verdasco stay in shape?

He’s got legs like tree trunks and knows that to succeed on the court he has to be strong all over, but Verdasco is all about what’s up top. “I like to work the upper body, shoulders, back. They are very important for tennis,” he says, preferring rows, flies and presses. And it shows, too. He generates about the most topspin on tour (rivaling Nadal) thanks to his upper-body strength and the torque it creates on his groundstrokes.

When it comes to nutrition, Fernando has good roots—his family owns three restaurants in his hometown of Madrid. He avoids junk food and greasy items in favor of a varied diet (veggies, pasta, meat and chicken) for adequate nutrition. “If you eat only lettuce, you won’t be able to hit a ball.”

Recently, Verdasco, who is featured in the new Montenegro Method DVD Series, had a chance to test out a series of exercise routines developed by Marta Montenegro. “I’ve made Marta’s exercises part of my daily routine. I enjoy all of them,” he says. You can view some of those exercises in our photo gallery.

Fernando will be featured in the March/April 2010 issue of SOBeFiT Magazine.

(via SOBeFiT)

Fernando won his fourth career title and along with it a major win over a top ten player when he beat Andy Roddick at the SAP Open in San Jose, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4!

“I served much better in the second and third set than the first set. Also, I was more aggressive; I started to push him a little bit more, tried to play more inside the court and move toward the net in the second set.

“I know against the Top 10 guys it’s always tough matches,” said Verdasco. “Last year in a lot of them I was really close and I didn’t win. I was a little bit unlucky in the matches, like in London against Federer, del Potro, Murray. Those were three matches I could’ve won and I lost all of them.

“Of course it’s a match that I hope is going to give me confidence. It was a really hard final for me, this one against Andy here, in his country, in the U.S., and I’m so happy that I was able to beat him here after the last times he beat me. It’s special for me and I’m happy that I did it.”

Fernando’s victory over Andy Roddick ends a 15-match losing streak against top 10 players. His last win against a top ten player was in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open against then world number 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Fernando defeated Denis Istomin 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to advance to the finals of the SAP Open, where he’ll face either #1 seed Andy Roddick or #7 seed Sam Querrey. It’s his first final of the year and his tenth career final.

Some more information about Fernando’s injury as well. He’s been suffering from a sciatic nerve flare-up since his match in Kooyong against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and as a result is dealing with some hamstring discomfort in his right leg.

“It’s not like big pain, but it’s not nice, also, the feeling, no? I’m doing all I can,” he said. “I cannot do anything else. I just hope that it’s going to be gone.”

Due to his injury, Fernando may not be able to play in Spain’s first round Davis Cup match next month against Switzerland, but even without him and Rafael Nadal, who will likely sit the tie out, Spain still has a whole host of players to carry the Spanish banner. “Sometimes you are unable to play, and it’s important to have many good players. When someone is unable to play, the other one can replace them and play at the same level.”

(via inside tennis)

Fernando defeated Lithuanian qualifier Ricardis Berankis 6-3, 7-6(5), to advance to the semifinals of the SAP Open, where he’ll face Denis Istomin for a spot in the finals against either #1 seed Andy Roddick or #7 seed Sam Querrey.

The draw for next week’s Regions Morgan Keegan Championship was also released today. Fernando will face Jeremy Chardy in the first round! Vamos!

Also, the SAP Open twitter reports that Fernando will make his decision about whether or not to play Davis Cup after Memphis. He was dealing with a sciatic nerve injury several days ago and is playing through hamstring pain. Hopefully he’ll recover and be as close to 100% as possible for the upcoming hard court and clay Masters in the coming months. Vamos :)

Fernando defeated Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open. He’ll face Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis. Vamos Fernando!