After briefly using a Yonex racquet and then returning to his Tecnifibre frame, Fernando has officially signed with Dunlop racquets.

Fernando signed an international contract for rackets, strings and accessories, while also agreeing to play a key role endorsing Dunlop’s junior talent identification programme – D-Squad.

“Becoming a brand ambassador for Dunlop is a very proud moment for me,” he said. “I look forward to joining the great players already associated with the brand. I am continuing to work hard and with the help from Dunlop I hope to be able to make this my most successful year to date.”

Barry Leach, MD of Dunlop Sport said: “Fernando is a world class addition to Dunlop and exemplifies the quality we look for at the brand. He plays an exciting style of tennis and, if he can build on last year’s performances, I would expect him to be a main fixture in the ATP top ten this year.”

(via dunlop sport)

Fernando defeated 7th seed Marin Cilic reached the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open, successfully defending his points from last year. Third time seemed to be the charm for Fernando, who had been defeated by Cilic twice in both their previous hard court meetings, but something was working right for Fernando today as he took a straight sets win in just under two hours, just as the sun was setting over Key Biscayne.

Tomrorow, Fernando and Feliciano will take on Tommy and Nico for a spot in the doubles semifinals. Fernando will play Tomas Berdych who took down top seed Roger Federer, for a spot in the semifinals.

Fernando survived a scare in his third round singles match today against Jurgen Melzer, 3-6, 7-6⁴, 6-1. The first two sets were very shaking, with Fernando opening the match with a pair of double faults, and Melzer easily taking the early break. Fernando twice had to serve to stay in the match, forcing a tiebreak in the second set that he won 7-4. Having rattled Melzer, Fernando raced out to a 5-0 lead, despite getting only 52% of his first serves in. Fernando had a match point on Melzer’s serve, but Melzer held to stay in the match, and gave Fernando the opportunity to serve it out, which he did, taking the third and deciding set 6-1. He next faces 7th seed Marin Cilic, who defeated Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets. It’s a tricky match-up. Their head-to-head is 2-2, but Marin has won both their hard court meetings, including their most recent meeting last year at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, where he defeated Fernando 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The match is scheduled last on Grandstand court tomorrow evening.

Fernando and Feli (who lost his singles match earlier today) had a much smoother time in their doubles match which started about an hour and a half after Fernando won in singles. They knocked out the 6th seeds Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley, 6-1, 7-6⁴ They set up an all-Spanish affair next in the quarterfinals when they face off against Davis Cup teammates Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro, who earlier today dispatched top seeds Nestor/Zimonjic.

From after his second-round victory against Dudi Sela. Enjoy :)

Fernando defeated Dudi Sela earlier today, 6-1, 6-2, in just over an hour to reach the third round and set up a meeting with the 23th seed, Jurgen Melzer. Fernando also debuted a version the new kit he’ll be wearing for next month’s clay season. You can see the white version he wore today as well as the blue version he’ll be wearing starting next month here.

Because of a rain delay on Friday, Fernando & Feliciano’s doubles match was postponed to Sunday morning and they are second up on Court 1. Hope to be able to live tweet via livescores. No pictures, sadly, because I won’t be at the tournament tomorrow, but best of luck to them both for tomorrow!

http://fernando-verdasco.com/

There’s not much content at the moment, just a video, but hey, it’s a start! I have no clue when it launches or anything like that, but it’s great that Fernando finally has something official! Don’t worry though, I’ll still be updating here and probably once it launches too, considering lots of times, official sites just do minor updates and stuff.

with Fernando Gonzalez, Marta Montenegro, Feliciano Lopez & Carlos Moya

Tennis stars Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez are both eager to soak up South Florida’s relaxed environment ahead of the Sony Ericsson tennis tournament kicking off this week — but they’re keeping to a strict regimen.

“I don’t really go out — at least until I finish the tournament,” Verdasco said last night. “And after that, we will see.”

Speaking at the Epic Hotel release party for Marta Montenegro’s fitness DVD, the pair said they’re sticking to the courts before they begin digging into the Miami scene.

“It’s one of the tournaments we always want to play,” said Lopez. “We feel great here.”

(via nbc miami)

Click below to see Fernando’s section of the singles draw for the upcoming Miami Masters tournament:

Fernando has a bye in the first round of Indian Wells and will face either Evgeny Korolev or Dudi Sela in the second. He has a potential third round meet-up with Jurgen Melzer, a fourth round meetup with Marin Cilic and a quarterfinal meeting with Roger Federer. But, seeing how insane things went last week, anything could happen! So vamos and best of luck, Fernando!

From the Player’s Party on March 11, 2010

….and practicing a couple days later before his first round match