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Fernando’s draw for the first slam of the year, next week’s Australian Open! He’s defending a fourth round appearance here, and will be hoping to replicate his success from 2009, because he’s got a very rough draw. He’s in the bottom section of the draw, in Federer’s half, but in Djokovic’s quarter. He could face Tipsarevic in the second round and Davydenko, the man who ended his 2010 AO run, in the third, then Berdych in the fourth. Should he make it out of that unscathed, he’ll likely face Djokovic in the quarterfinals. So it’s going to be a very tough battle for him, especially since he hasn’t had a great time so far in his warm-up events, but he had a similar slump before the US Open last year and managed to reach the quarterfinals. This slam is always full of surprises, so anything can happen! Vamos Fernando!

Also, no doubles, at least not with Feli, who’s playing with Juan Monaco instead.

adidas is running a new promotion!

We need your help! Ana Ivanovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco have had their brand new superlight adizero tennis shoes stolen from adidas headquarters in Germany. Now we need your help to track them down.

Listen out for clues to the shoes’ whereabouts from Hughesy and Kate and by following the adidas Twitter feed.

Three lucky listeners who find the three pairs of shoes will personally deliver them back to Ana Ivanovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco at a special event, plus they’ll score themselves a $1000 adidas voucher.

Not sure if this contest is only open to Australians, but answering their Twitter trivia questions can get you a $350 adidas voucher, so it never hurts to enter! Check this page for more info!

And you can view the making-of here :)

Fernando suffered his second defeat in a row to Benjamin Becker today in the first round of the Brisbane International. It’s a disappointing loss, and unfortunately it won’t be good for his confidence, but hopefully it gives Fernando some inspiration to keep practicing harder so that he can regain his form in time for the Australian Open. He’s got a new haircut and a nice new outfit which looks great, and hopefully he’ll gain more confidence so he can go deeper in tournaments and we’ll get to see more of it in the coming weeks.

He and Feli withdrew from doubles because Feli had a virus, so he’s out of the tournament. Hopefully he’ll stick around to practice some more before heading to the Kooyong exho next week :)

Happy New Year :) First post of the year here at Verdasco News! Fernando did an interview during his preparation for the upcoming Brisbane International, where he talked a little bit about his pre-season as he played a little tennis football with Aussie footballer Matt McKay!

Fernando will play Benjamin Becker in his first round match in Brisbane; Fer leads their head to head 4-2, but lost their last meeting in Bangkok a few months ago. Hopefully this time, he’ll be much more motivated and will get a win! Vamos!

The new layout is finished! Hope you guys like it! Raahima from RainonMe.net who did the last header did this one too. I wanted something that highlighted Fernando’s best victory last year in Barcelona, and I’m really happy with what she designed, and the brightness of the header provides a nice contrast to the dark of the layout.

There are still a few small details I need to sort out, but the overall renovations are finished! The site is viewed best in browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera, so if you use Internet Explorer, I recommend upgrading to one of these to view the site (and most other websites) better. If you notice any weird errors or missing images or links, please leave a comment below, as well as one letting me know what you think of the new re-design. The priority is to make things accessible for you guys, the fellow fans, so feedback is always welcome and wanted!

Fernando has been pretty busy since Paris ended, doing a few campaigns and now in London as an alternate for the World Tour Finals.

Earlier this year, Fer also participated in the Fundación SOS’ “Twelve months, Twelve rights,” solidarity campaign, doing a photoshoot for a calendar where he, along with eleven other athletes, shared moments with children, representing in each of the photos one of the fundamental rights of children. The calendar is to commemorate International Children’s Day on November 20th. Click here to view the picture!

Here I’ve posted/translated some of his recent interviews talking about his tennis, his personal life, girls, football, his future and more. Hope you enjoy!
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“My first big challenge in 2011 will be to win the Australian Open”
Discussing how he feels about his season:

“I’m a little disappointed with the season I’ve had, albeit after a good start–I was number 3 in the race after Monte Carlo, but I have not had the expected year-end. I didn’t have a good American hard court season other than the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and after that a horrible Asian swing.”

On who he thinks the favourite for London is:

“It’s hard to say one because they are all the best, but it is clear that the track conditions are not conducive to the Spaniards. I wish I could say that Rafa and David are favorites, but I see more possibilities for Federer, who seems to be back in top form, and Soderling, who comes in after winning in Paris and whose game is perfectly suited to the court conditions.”

On his hopes for next year:

After London, Fernando plan to relax for a few days in Madrid, then leave for the U.S., to begin his intense preparation for the next year. In 2011, he’ll begin his season in Brisbane, followed by the Kooyong exho (which he won last year, defeating Tsonga in the final) all this in preparation for the first Grand Slam of the year. “Although it sounds a bit strong, my challenge for myself at the start of next season is to win the Australian Open. Two years ago I was in the semis before falling to Rafa in five sets. It’s a special tournament for me.”

On Real Madrid & the upcoming ‘El Clasico’ match against rivals FC Barcelona:

“It will be one of the best Clasicos in recent years as Real Madrid and Barcelona are both better than ever. I definitely don’t think we will be beaten 2-6 like we were at the Bernabeu two years ago; for that match, I was at the stadium and I wanted to die! Of course I hope Real Madrid wins this time!” He was also asked about the similarity between his hair and the new look of Cristiano Ronaldo: “Did I copy his hair? No way, plus he has much more of his hair shaved on sides. And I did it first at Indian Wells last year when I had my mohawk!”

via marca
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“I don’t have time to think about sex, just tennis!”

“I have no time to think about sex, just think about tennis”

Fernando has a new sponsor with Head and Shoulders and during a recent campaign, he did an interview, answering some questions.

What does Fernando Verdasco think about?
I think especially tennis because that’s what takes up almost all my time during the year. Now that I’m finishing the season, it’s more about vacations and rest, to recover to get to 100 percent for next year. But in little more than that. I have other things to do that sometimes can stress me out a bit, but tennis is what most occupies my mind.

But surely many other things go through your head when you wake up every morning …
When I wake up I think about what I have to do that day. If I’m playing, I think of the game but in this day and train. But if, for example I have something like a presentation try to concentrate on everything I have to do to be perfect and have everything under control.

It provided that men think about sex … In your case you?
I do not have time to think about sex! (laughs)

And when you take a shower … What are you thinking?
In the shower I try to relax and not think about anything. But the human brain is always thinking whether you’re in the shower, sleeping or playing tennis. If it’s after a match, I’m thinking about how I played.

Is there something you lose sleep over?
I lose sleep over an important match only. Tennis is my profession, my life and this is what I think about most.

And speaking of girls, would you like to know what women think?
I think sometimes they do not know themselves what they think! (Laughs).

Surely more than once, you’ve wondered “what is she thinking …?”
I’m not much interested, but sometimes I do I wonder how a woman is thinking at any given time.

Would you love to know what your opponent is thinking during a match?
Yes! (laughs) I wonder what he will do, how he’ll play or if it he more or less nervous.

40 percent of men worry about having abs; what are you worried about in regards to your image?
I obsessed over my physical appearance. I a lot of training for tennis. I’ve always been fortunate to have a constitution that I have no trouble gaining weight. When I’m not playing tennis, I eat the same and don’t pick up weight. But I do train a lot, that’s true.

And you use creams, to make you cuter?
I use moisturizer on my hands and face because my skin too dry in the sun and air. As tennis players, we are always in the air and I have to take care of my skin so I don’t look like I’m 40, I do not want that. But I’m not obsessed at all with my look.

When will we see you playing again?
I’m going to London on Friday to be an alternate for the World Tour Finals and will be waiting in case someone is injured. I’ll be there a few days and when there is no possibility of playing, I’m going back home so I can organize my holiday. Although beginning December 7 I will end my holidays to continue training and on the 29th, I will go to Australia to begin training for the new season in January.

(via que!)

Fernando had a very close three set loss to Gael Monfils in the third round in Paris, and thus is out of the running for London. Unlike last year, when we had both the Masters Cup and Davis Cup to look forward to, things will be much slower here until next year, but I’ll try my very best to update as much as possible!

“It was a good year, but it is clear I expected more. I’m going to end up in the same position as last year. I always try to improve year after year and if I end as I can not do.

“The match was very even, and could have gone either way. In fact, I had two match points and I’m certain kind of meter or two lines, one of them up to second serve. I played at a good level but it is not good enough when you do not get the victory.

“I do not know yet if I will go to London as an alternate. I’ll see how I feel. If I feel like it, I’ll go, but I might prefer to relax and try to recover as much as I can for next year.”

Fernando will be playing Brisbane in addition to Kooyong as a warm-up tournament before the Australian Open next year.

“I really think that tournament helped me so much to play good and to make the semis at the Australian Open, so I’m coming back with that feeling, trying to do as good as possible in Brisbane, trying to win the tournament … and of course also to play good and get a good rhythm for the Australian Open. It was a tough match for me to lose. I really wanted to win that tournament. But after, I really played unbelievable in the Australian Open and it really helped me to get a lot of rhythm from the first week of the year.”

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Fernando will finish this year as #9 in the world, same as last year. He had an excellent first half of the year, winning the Kooyong exhibition, a title in San Jose defeating Andy Roddick in the final, and winning Barcelona defeating Robin Soderling in the final. Aside from those two victories, he recorded several other victories against top ten opponents including Djokovic and Berdych. In addition to this, although he didn’t exceed his past results at any of the slams (though he did equal his best results at the French and US Opens) he reached his first Masters series final in Monte Carlo, and his second Masters semifinal shortly afterwards in Rome. The second half of the year post-Wimbledon was a bit of a disappointment, but we can’t ignore the fantastic first half of the season he had!

That’s all from me for now, as I said, I’ll do my best to provide any updates about what Fernando’s doing in the off-season if I can! Thank you for coming here and reading the site and commenting, submitting content, retweeting, liking our posts on facebook, and just coming together as fans of Fernando.

If there’s anything I can do to improve the site, please don’t ever hesitate to let me know! Thanks so much!

From his second round win over Clement. Loving the haircut :)

Fernando joins Spanish footballers David Villa (of the national team & FC Barcelona) Xabi Alonso (of the national team and Real Madrid) and Sergio Canales (of the U21 national team & Real Madrid) in the new adidas “Be Faster” campaign. Making Of video below, and you can click on the thumbnails to view the pictures in the gallery :)