Fernando defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6⁴, 3-6, 6-4 to advance to his second Masters semifinal of the year! He faces compatriot David Ferrer for a chance to play in his third straight clay final.

Fernando defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6² to reach his fourth consecutive tournament quarterfinal this year (Miami, Monte Carlo, Barcelona) and to also set up a rematch against Novak Djokovic, whom he defeated in straight sets in Monte Carlo two weeks ago. They play first up on Center Court tomorrow at 1pm local time.

Fernando continued his good run on clay by defeating local boy Simone Bolelli 7-6¹¹, 6-3 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Despite still being tired from two straight weeks of tennis, Fernando played well today, fighting back from a 0-3 and then 2-5 deficit in the first set to force a tiebreak, where he saved several set points before Bolelli netted a forehand to give him the first set. The second set went much smoother and Fernando is safely into the round of 16 for the third year in a row, and will be looking to defeat compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in order to secure a sport in the quarterfinals and defend his points from last year. Vamos, Fernando!

Fernando kept the Trofeo Conde de Godó in Spanish hands as he defeated Robin Soderling 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to become the fourth consecutive Spanish winner of the Torneo Godó (after Moya, Robredo & Nadal)

Fernando’s victory today at the Barcelona Open is his fifth career title and second title of the year and marks the third time this year he’s won a tournament where he’s beaten a top ten player in the final (def. Tsonga [10] in the Kooyong exhibition and Roddick [7] in San Jose) Barcelona is Fernando’s first 500 series tournament win and, according to him, winning this title has marked the finest moment in his career so far.

Some stuff from his post-match presser:

“I’m very happy to have won this tournament. It was a tough final and it’s been a very difficult week; there has not been an easy match but it was all worth it in the end to lift the trophy. I have never played in two consecutive finals before.

Everything you can win gives you confidence and this tournament is very special for me, as it is for all the Spaniards. But what I achieved last week and this is going to help me a lot in terms of confidence and experience. Having played in last week’s final was a help to me today.

Of course Nadal is a tough proposition on clay and he’s one or maybe even two levels above everyone else, but I really feel like I can beat anyone else right now and I think I have a good chance of making more finals on clay. The important thing is to get to Roland Garros in good shape.

In the second set I let my level drop a little, I was waiting for him to make errors precisely at the time when he started to play better. I started to drop the ball short and he was stepping inside the court, which is when he’s very dangerous. In the third set I began to hit deeper and harder again so that would not be so comfortable. I noticed that he started to tire a little bit and that encouraged me to fight harder even though I was tired.

I feel like I have made a lot of progress mentally over the past year and I can cope better on the days when maybe not everything is going quite right. I have learned that when things are not going well, you have to keep fighting, and that on the court you have to do whatever you can with what you have, because you’re not always going to be hitting the ball incredibly well and you’re not always going to have good days. There are few of those, so you have to try to fight and learn to suffer although those are not nice feelings. I think that in the last year I’ve taken a big step forward in this sense.”

Fernando mentioned during the trophy ceremony that it was his sister Sara’s birthday so he was happy to win for her (he won New Haven last year on the 11th birthday of his youngest sister, Ana.) He also joked “I hope Rafa does not come next year, so I can win again.”

Fernando fought from a set and a break down to dispatch his compatriot David Ferrer 6-7⁴, 7-5, 6-1 to advance to his first final at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell. It’s his second consecutive final after Monte Carlo last week.

Fernando captured his fourth title at the SAP Open (d. Roddick) in San Jose earlier this year and is now in his 12th career final and third of the season. Fernando faces Robin Soderling in the final.

“This win is very important for me because it is the first time that I have played in two consecutive finals, and I would especially like to win here, so I will try to rest well and to be at my best tomorrow,” said Verdasco. “The fact that I have reached two clay court finals gives me a lot of confidence. I feel good and comfortable with my play. This year I have adapted to the surface better than ever; as I get more experienced it becomes easier.

“David was dominating the match and playing at a very high level; he’s a tough player and I was waiting to see if would give me a chance to get into the match again,” reflected Verdasco. “I took that chance as soon as I had it, and that gave me a lot of confidence in myself.

“It’s going to be a very difficult final. He has won most of our matches and is ranked higher than me but I think it all depends on how we play tomorrow. Soderling is a player who hits extremely hard, you have to move him around and try to tire him out so that his shots are not as precise.”

You can watch Fernando’s post match interview in English or Spanish

Fernando defeated Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6⁴ to advance to his first semifinal at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell. He faces compatriot David Ferrer for a place in Sunday’s final.

“Tomorrow we’ll both do everything we can to win, both David and I are playing well and the best player will win.”“I am not playing my best tennis here, at some moments I feel good, but in others not. But I have faith in myself and I think that’s very important in every match.

David always plays very well here, it’s the fourth time that he has reached the semi finals, and I am sure that he’s very motivated, but it’s a very special tournament for me too. I’ve been coming here since I was young, when I studied at the CAR in Barcelona, and I’m also very motivated to win. It’s going to be a very even match.”

Fernando faced a major scare today against Jurgen Melzer, but managed to once again fight back from a set deficit to overcome the Austrian and advance to the quarterfinals, defending his points from last year’s event. The two met last month in Miami and it was a similar situation to today, as Fernando found himself down 3-6 in the first set of both matches. He had to fight to force a tiebreak both times which he won (7-4 in Miami, 7-1 today) The major difference was that last month, Fernando quickly too control of the final set, taking a 5-0 lead before Melzer finally held serve and Fernando quickly closed out the match. This time, Melzer took the early lead 2-0, but Fernando quickly found his game again and closed it out 6-3 in the final set.

He takes on Ernests Gulbis for a spot in the semifinals. The two have never played before so it will be an interesting matchup. He plays second up on Center Court (not before 2:45pm local time)

““I didn’t feel very comfortable during the match and they were not the ideal conditions for me, but I’m happy to have reached the semi finals.”

“Tomorrow’s match with Gulbis is going to be difficult. He’s a player that is a player that is perhaps a little less consistent than me, but I’m going to have to be careful. He plays very flat, and if the ball doesn’t bounce he’s going to feel very comfortable, so I’m going to have to move him around a lot.”

“I’m trying to hold up as well as I can. Physically I’m tired, last week in Monte Carlo was tough and this week is the same, but I hope to keep on progressing and to play better tomorrow than I did today.”

“Originally I hadn’t intended to play in this tournament, my plan was to only play at the Masters 1000 and Roland Garros, but when the time came, and following some requests from the club, I decided to come. I also did it for the fans, who always treat me incredibly well.”

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Fernando has also made an early commitment to play the Queens’ Club tournament in June to warm up for the Wimbledon Championships. He joins Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the latest players to confirm their appearance. The trio will join Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick as top seeds at the prestigious grass-court tournament.

(via LTA.org)

Fernando arrived in Barcelona yesterday evening and this morning, he and Robin Soderling were invited to do a little promo work for the Barcelona Open BancSabadell. They played a little rooftop tennis on the 21st-floor of the W Hotel.

“This was great, I hadn’t been there before so I was really curious about how it was going to look,” said Verdasco. “It was really impressive how they managed to fit a small tennis court up there.” Added Soderling: “That was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it and it’s great to be able to do different and new things like that. The hotel and court were really impressive and the view was just spectacular.”

Robin also tweeted a photo of him and Fernando from today :)