It was a good weekend for Spain, as they began their 2011 Davis Cup campaign with solid wins. Fernando replaced David Ferrer in the opening singles rubber against Xavier Malisse, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, and and then teamed up to Feli to defeat the Belgian doubles pair of Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus, 7-6⁰, 6-4, 6-3. Rafa’s win over youngster Ruben Bemelmens rounded out the 3-0 live rubber win for Spain, and the Armada heads to the USA in July to take on the Americans in the quarterfinals. Vamos!

In his post-match presser, Fernando said that he had been dealing with a broken bone in his left ankle, a problem that had been detected after his match against Gael Monfils in Kooyong, and that the pain had come back during the first set of his match against Berdych today. After Kooyong, Fernando underwent some tests, including an MRI, which detected the broken bone. This isn’t the first foot related injury that Fernando’s dealt with. He had problems with his foot toward the end of his 2009 season, putting off the surgery because of his participation in the World Tour Finals and Davis Cup final, and he suffered recurring problems with blisters and minor pain all throughout 2010.

“The operating room is the last option. I have to talk to Dr. Angel Cotorro to see what decision I can make about the ankle, to see what I can do, whether to keep playing or stop to have the surgery to remove the broken bone, although this is a last resort, because I will miss several tournaments if I have the surgery.”

via AS.com

Fernando’s schedule in the next few weeks is completely full. He has the upcoming week and the week after the Australian Open off, but then he’s scheduled to play San Jose, Memphis, Acapulco, Davis Cup, Indian Wells and Miami, with no breaks between the tournaments unless he loses early in Indian Wells. Playing this much doesn’t seem very smart when dealing with a broken bone, especially if surgery is ruled out, so hopefully Fernando will ease back on his schedule and make his health the top priority.

On the positive side, despite struggling in his second round match and coming in to Melbourne not having won a full match since his first round match against Clement in Paris last November, Fernando successfully defended his points and remains in the top 10–he remains 9th in the rankings, although he could potentially drop to 10th if Melzer makes it to the semifinals or further.

Defeats Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(0), 6-0

Down 4-5* and 5-6* in the fourth set. Saved three match points. Won 30 of the last 39 points of the match.

What a comeback.

Moves into the third round to face Kei Nishikori.

(Now please, no more heart attacks, Fernando.)

Fernando’s finally on the official win board for this year, notching a first round victory over the veteran German Rainer Schuettler, 6-1 6-3 6-2 in just under an hour and 45 minutes. This win is important for Fernando’s confidence and he was solid throughout, winning 86% of his first serve points and facing only one break point, which he saved. Hopefully he’s put aside his losses to Becker in Brisbane and Monfils in Kooyong and is focusing on the matches ahead of him. He looked good, was serving well (just one double fault the whole match) and now advances to the second round, where he’ll face Janko Tipsarevic. Janko was the winner of their first two meetings (one of which was in the second round of the 2008 Australian Open!) but Fernando won their most recent, in Valencia in 2009. Hopefully he can pull off the win again! Vamos!

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 :)

This win is crucial if Fernando wants to keep his hopes of going to London alive. He needs to make at least the semifinals and hope for an early exit from Roddick in order to bridge the 245 point gap between them.

“The first set and the beginning of the second set I was having problems a little bit. The court was fast. He was with more rhythm than me, maybe because his game, I think, is good for this kind of court. In the third set I saw him a little bit tired. He started making double faults at the end of the second set and the beginning of the third set, so this helped me to take advantage and break him and take more confidence also in my game. Finally I finished playing good.

“For me, the Masters Cup is not the most important thing right now. I just want to play well here, start to play my game in this fast court and then we’ll see…”

Fernando plays Gael Monfils on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals.

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!

Also, check out Fernando’s photoshoot for the September issue of GQ magazine in the US. I’ll try to pick up the magazine this weekend in case there’s an interview inside, but in the meantime, we have these great scans to enjoy! As always, click the link to get to the full gallery!

Fernando, on serve to stay in the first set, double faulted to give Berrer a 6-4 lead. In the second set, Fernando went down an early break and trailed 4-1 and had to serve to stay in the match at 5-2. Berrer held two match points at 5-3, but Fernando found his form again and won the next four games to tie it up at one set all. The two fought hard to force a tiebreak in the deciding set (with Fernando once again having to serve to stay in the match)

Fernando suffered a scare when he twisted his ankle at 5-all in the tiebreak, but he was determined to close out the match. Afterwards, he said it was “painful for 1 minute” (thanks to @TennisRomi) but managed to close out the match 8-6 in the TB after just over two hours and 40 minutes.

“Even when I was match points down I just tried to not make mistakes and forced him to hit a winner to win the match. After that, when I broke back, I started to get confidence and then broke him again. Those four games were the best of the match for me. To get through the match on a hot night, playing with pressure, is a good win.”

Fernando lost a tough match against Michael Llodra, 7-6⁵, 4-6, 3-6, 6-7². He was never really able to get a feel on Llodra’s service game, and only had a handful of break points the entire match, one of which he converted.

“Llodra played at a high level and deserved the victory,” Fernando said in the brief press conference after the match.

Tomorrow’s doubles match is crucial if Spain wants to keep their hopes of defending their Davis Cup title alive. Fernando and Feliciano will face Llodra and Julien Benneteau in doubles on Saturday, hoping to get the crucial win to try and make a comeback.