Last week, Fernando and Feliciano played an exhibition match on the Centre Court of the Madrid Tennis Federation in front of 1,200 spectators to celebrate the opening of the center’s new courts. The two played a short match (Feliciano won 4-2) in front of Manolo Santana, director of the Madrid Open, Miguel Diaz, president of the Madrid Tennis Federation, and Ignacio Gonzalez, Vice President and Minister of Culture and Sport of the Community of Madrid.

Both players received special plaques to commemorate the occasion and Fernando talked about his hopes to play the Tour Finals for the second consecutive year: “I still have five important tournaments left to play [Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Valencia & Paris] and what I want is to qualify for the Year End Championships in London. There are eight spots and so I hope to be higher than seventh after the tournaments in Asia, why is it that I played well, and so meet Paris and Valencia to be well and qualify.”

He also talked about how the renewal of the contract of Albert Costa as Spain’s Davis Cup captain as “good news, because all players get along very well with him. In his first year, we won the Davis Cup in Barcelona and we hope to repeat this in the future.”

In Bangkok, Fernando took part in a Muay Thai training session, coached by 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist Somjit Jongjorhor. “I would love to learn more Thai boxing. I’ve always loved martial arts so maybe when I stop playing tennis I can learn some more. It was a lot of fun to learn some of the moves today.”

Fernando also talked again about his hopes to grab one of the six remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. “The goal for me now is to get to London for the second consecutive year, so I’m going to fight hard to be there. I really want to finish in the Top 8 this year. Playing last year was very special for me as it was the first time that I qualified. Hopefully the experience from last year will help me if I can get there again this year.”

Fernando and Feliciano will play an exhibition match on Thursday, September 23, 2010 at the opening of the new courts of the Madrid Tennis Federation (MTF) from 17.30 (5.30pm) local time (3:30pm GMT/11:30am EST). The event will be attended by the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre; President of the Madrid Tennis Federation, Miguel Díaz Román, and the director of the Mutua Madrileno Madrid Open, Manolo Santana.

Not sure if there will be any streams available (most likely no) but hopefully we’ll get some good pictures aftewards :)

Fernando announced via his twitter that he WILL be playing the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok next week. This should be his finalized schedule for the rest of 2010:

Depending on how his final ranking looks, he might also look to booking a spot at the World Tour Finals for the second consecutive year, so fingers crossed :)

R Nadal/F. VERDASCO, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Fernando.

Q. How difficult were the conditions today?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Very. Very difficult for both of us. But I think that, you know, for the game I need to beat Rafa, these conditions was very bad for me.

Q. Q. What bothered you most, the serve?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Everything.

Q. What was your game plan going out, and how did you have to change it because of the wind?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: My game plan was try to push him all I can with my serve. It was very difficult even to make the toss of the ball. And try to play aggressive, try to play inside of the court, play, you know, normal, but good tactically. When I had the chance, tried to play hard and go to the net to close the point, but it was when I had these balls, the ball was moving all the time and was impossible to play the game, like I said, that I think that I need to make to try to have chances to beat Rafa.

Q. With Rafa playing so well here at the US Open, how does somebody beat him

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I don’t know. Everybody have better days than on others. He’s playing good, but I think that he will have a tough if I am not wrong, I think that he will play the final against Roger. It’s gonna be a tough match, because I think Roger play really good in these conditions. He gonna be a very tough final for Rafa if he plays against Roger in the final.

Q. So you think Roger’s about the only one who has the game to beat Rafa right now?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, Novak is a player that also on fast surface like this one, he already beat Rafa many times, and he have also the game to beat Rafa. But, I don’t know. I think if I need to bet here, I will bet for Roger. I think that he won five times here and he like these conditions.

F. VERDASCO/D. Ferrer, 5-7, 6-7⁸, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6⁴

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Fernando.

Q. What was going through your mind when you were down the two sets and then down 1 4 in the fifth set tiebreaker? How were you able to come back?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Like I said after the match, after I lost the first two sets, of course, it’s tough. You know, that you don’t have margin to recover. You just need to win all the other sets. About the tiebreak, you know, just trying to fight till the end. I came back till the fifth set, and of course even that I was 4 1 down in the tiebreak, I was not going to say, okay, that’s it. I was going to try my best till the end. Just that, no? Just try to play good, try to play aggressive, try to do my game, and the things came in a good way, no? I was, of course with 4 1 down in the tiebreak much more chances to lose than to win, but I didn’t. Just fighting and trying.

Q. Could you kind of describe match point? That’s a shot that is going to go down for a long time.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Is tough to explain. You are just you are with your sixth sense in the ball, in the point, knowing how important is, and, you know, just trying to run, fight, all the balls. So when I did the backhand along the line passing shot, you know, I was like even surprised that he took the volley. Of course, my reaction was just keeping the point and start running forward. Because normally with these volleys it’s a dropshot, no, you gonna make another long volley. So I start running, and I just saw that space. (Smiling.) You know, is tough. Is tough to explain, because is like really short period of time and you are just running and trying to get the ball. When you see there a little bit of space, you just try to put the ball in. It was like unbelievable.

Q. But was the space you were looking at actually between the net and the chair?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: I was just first trying to get the ball; after that, yeah, it was only space. He was in the middle of the court, so I didn’t see a space to play crosscourt. I saw a little bit of space just on the top of the net, just in between, like you said, the chair and the net, and I just tried to put the ball inside, inside out no, outside in, and it’s good. (Laughing.) So happy when I saw that the ball was going in.

Q. What kind of treatment did you require after this match? Anything unusual?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Just try to eat good, drink good, rest a lot, and of course hot massage, stretch on everything that you need, no? It’s not also good if you are like having massage for three hours or stretching for three hours. I think that just the normal routine, like every match, no? Like maybe about 20 minutes stretching and about maybe one hour massage.

Q. But no IV or anything like that?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: No. Maybe you can take some anti inflammatories. You know, it’s a very long match, and normally you have your body pretty you know, you have pain in your foot and your nails and in part of the body of course from tension of the match. You take some anti inflammatories, and that’s the only thing. The other thing is just eat a lot of proteins and carbs to try to recover the best and as soon as possible.

Q. You’re gonna maybe play Nadal in the next round. You have not a great record against him. Can you just talk about the challenge of playing Nadal, and also talk about if you feel like his serve has changed or has improved in the last few months.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Yeah, well, I think that in this tournament I improve my serve a lot. It was one of maybe the biggest change from the last tournament to this US Open. Gets me a lot of free points, and, you know, like confidence.

Q. I’m talking about Nadal’s serve.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Oh, Nadal’s serve? No, well, I think he’s serving also better. You know, I think that he even improved the serve. In Wimbledon this year he was serving better than normally. I don’t think about that, of the grip, no? I don’t see like really, you know he’s there, and I don’t see when he’s serving a big change in his grip. But he comes with confidence, no? He’s making a great year. Of course when you are with confidence and you are trying new things like, for example, hit stronger the serve, you know, is easier to work well than when you are without confidence. So I think that he improve his serve, and of course helping him to improve his game, also.

Q. Did you and David Ferrer talk in the locker room after the match at all?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, we just saw each other for a few seconds, and we just, you know, normal. He told me, well done. I told him, like, I’m really sorry. Then I told him, like, you know, that we need to keep fighting to be both in the Masters Cup. We have a great relationship. Of course when you lose a match like this today for him if I lost this match, for sure I’d be so upset and pissed in the — it’s true — in the locker room. But at the end, you know, we are good friends, and I want him the best, no? I want him to be in the Masters Cup. And of course I hope that he will do it.

Q. Looking ahead to the Nadal match, because I don’t think you’ve had that many been two sets down and come backs like that. Does that give you massive confidence, what you pulled off today?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I hope that is gonna give me big confidence, this match. And also I hope to be 100% physically after a tough match like today to play against one player like Nadal that you need to be like 100% to try to face him, no, to try to beat him. You know, I will just try to do all the things right and good, as best as possible. Then if he wins his match like he’s winning right now and I play against him Thursday, I will just try to play my best tennis and try to beat him for first time. Everybody knows that he’s No. 1 in the world; he’s great player. My record is not good against him. But I will keep trying and keep fighting to make the first time here.

Q. Can you talk about your physical state here. When you were treated in third set, was that your ankle?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: It was because the tape that they made me before the match, it was like giving me a little bit like a blister in my Achilles tendon. So it was bothering me, and I just said to change it, to cut it and make a new one, because it was cutting a little bit and making me a little bit of blister in the Achilles tendon. That’s all.

F. VERDASCO/D. Nalbandian, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Fernando.

Q. Felt like you served very well and he didn’t serve maybe as well as could have. Did that feel like the important swing in the match?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, maybe. I think everything is important in one match. When you play like two good players, everything can change the match, no?

It was windy, and not as windy as yesterday, but it was windy. Sometimes was tough to play, no? Tough to even serve in one side with the sun.

So, you know, I think that, yeah, maybe I served better than him and that gave me a little bit of advantage. But I think also that mentally I was really strong, even like in the first set for four games, almost 40 minutes, I was there all the time. You know, I’m positive and really good and focused.

So I think that that was the key. Also, even when I lost the second set, I was feeling good. So I think everything was important today to make the victory.

Q. Even though you didn’t break him the first few games, did you get a sense you had a lot more chances the rest of the match based on how was playing?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I think that the match, the beginning of the match was tough. I had, like you said, few breakpoints, I didn’t do it. It was four games, 40 minutes. But I was feeling great physically all the time.

I knew that I was, like, I really need to be all the time focused and be positive to beat one guy like Nalbandian right now in this moment.

So, you know, I did it, and I’m happy of how the match goes and how I played today.

Q. Can you talk about playing David? All the Spaniards are doing well here. What are your feelings on that?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Yeah, well, it’s good that he’s gonna be for sure one Spanish in quarterfinals, and maybe, you know, if Feliciano wins and Rafa wins, also another Spanish in quarterfinals will be in that part of the draw.

If that is done today, one semifinals for sure will be Spanish also. So, you know, it’s always nice to see all the Spanish winning and being in the last rounds, no? So if you need to lose, it’s better to lose against a Spanish player, then at least one guy is gonna be there one round more, no?

I’m happy. I hope to play good also the next round, keep doing my work and my job as better as possible. Trying to play the best to be in the quarterfinals like last year.

Q. Do you feel better now than you did maybe in Washington?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Yeah, for sure I am feeling much better. The last weeks before here, the results was really like really tough.

I lost with Mardy 7-6, 7-6. With Chardy also with the tiebreaks. It was, you know, like tough matches, close matches. Finally I lost all of them.

So I’m happy how is this tournament going, and I’m getting much more confidence. For sure, the match of today, winning Nalbandian that is one of the players in best conditions this summer is gonna help me for my confidence and for get better work and better tennis the next matches.

Fernando some revenge for his first round Wimbledon loss as he defeated Italian Fabio Fognini in a tough five setter, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Fernando credited his mental strength with helping him gut out the hard-fought win.

He faces French youngster Adrian Mannarino in the second round. Fernando defeated Mannarino 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open en route to his semifinal run, so let’s hope for a similar defeat here in Flushing Meadows! Vamos Fernando!