Fernando lost a tough quarterfinal match against No. 4 Novak Djokovic, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 5-7, 2-6

The match lasted over three hours and Fernando kept Novak on his feet for the first three sets, but was looking visibly pained near the end of the third set and into the fourth, when he began struggling with his stomach injury. He called for the trainer twice during the fourth set to fix his the tape on his stomach, but it didn’t improve his game, and his mobility became increasingly sluggish as he began making an increased number of unforced errors.
—-
Here’s a cute gem from an NYTimes article to cheer you up:

Even though Verdasco is from Spain and far from the most popular player from there (that would be Nadal), the crowds here have embraced his winning personality and improved game. Verdasco had knocked off the last American man in the draw, John Isner, in the fourth round and by the end of that match, the Armstrong Stadium crowd was cheering for him and not Isner. In his postmatch interview on court, he charmed them further.

“I’m sorry to have beaten the last one,” Verdasco said. “But I practice in Las Vegas, so I’m half-American.”

Fernando defeated American John Isner today to advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open for the first time in his professional tennis career. The final score was 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

He’ll meet either Novak Djokovic or Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals. Vamos Fernando!

Fernando defeated Tommy Haas in a five-set thriller 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(8), 1-6, 6-4

Now it’s on to the fourth round, where he’ll face the winner of the Roddick/Isner match. Until then Fernando, rest, relax, recuperate. You’ve earned it!

Fernando defeated Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 in his first round match. He’ll face Florent Serra in the second round. Click for bigger versions :)

Vamos! Fernando took down sixth-seeded Sam Querrey to win the 2009 Pilot Pen singles tournament. It took just over an hour and a half for Fernando to pull out a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over Querrey to claim his first title of the year and third career title.

He saved five set points from Querrey in the second set, including three in the tiebreak. He got a lucky break from Querrey, who, with set point at 6-5, decided to attempt a return that would have gone wide. The ball hit the net, bring it to an even 6-6, and the Querrey double faulted, to give Fernando match point. It was a beautiful backhand winner from Nando that clinched the match and the title.

Fernando had a stellar 72% first serve percentage and won 73% of his first serve points. Unlike his two previous matches where he double faulted into the double digits, he double faulted only four times in this championship match (this is good for him!) and got in four aces. He did not drop a single set on his way to his title.

Probably the cutest thing ever was when he was interviewed on-court about his large family in attendance (12 in all!) and he said it was his youngest sister’s birthday (“She made 11 years old,” according to Fernando) as well as his cousin’s, so he was very happy to be able to get to the final and win, as a kind of present for them.

So proud of him, congrats Fer! And sorry to all those following me on twitter for updates. Twitter decided I had reached my tweet limit for the hour just before the tiebreak.

Fernando will take on Sam Querrey in the final of the ATP Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

The semi-finals, originally scheduled for Friday, had to be moved indoors to escape the remnants of tropical storm Danny. Fernando defeated Igor Andreev 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) to reach the final, while Querrey was a 6-3 6-4 victor against Argentina’s José Acasuso.

The final is due to take place later on Saturday with organisers hoping the weather will have cleared sufficiently to hold the match outdoors. The final will be the first career meeting for the world #10 and world #23.

via skysports

After a nail-biting first set and two rain-delays in the set, Nando prevailed with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over 16th-seeded and 48th-ranked Andreas Seppi of Italy, in the third round.

Fernando double-faulted four times within his first two service games and lost three of the first four games, eventually trailing 3-5, before managing to break back with a 6-5 lead before Seppi served to stay in the set, forcing a first set tiebreak which Fernando went on to win 7-3.

Fernando started off the second set much better than the first, and was leading 3-1 at 0-30 in the fifth game when the first rain delay was called. Play resumed for Nando to win the game, but was suspended for another rain delay.

After the rain delay, Fernando grabbed a commanding 5-1 lead. Seppi held serve to bring the score to 5-2, but Nando held serve and it was game, second set and match to Verdasco. This is his fifth consecutive victory against the Italian, bringing their head to head to 5-0. Seppi beat Fernando back in 2003 in a challenger match in Milan.

“I was just giving my 100 percent to try to finish the match as soon as possible,” Fernando said in his post-match presser. “I really played good those three last games.”

Fernando’s next opponent is 11th-seeded and 37th-ranked Jurgen Melzer from Austria. Fernando leads their head to head at 2-1, but they are dead even on hard courts. Melzer won their most recent career meeting, three years ago here in New Haven, winning the first set 6-4 and up 4-1 before Fernando retired. Prior to that, Fernando won their other hard court meeting in Marseille, 6-4, 7-5(3)

Fernando defeated Paul Capdeville in straight sets to advanced to the quarterfinals in Pilot Pen!

“Feeling is always good playing here. Sure I’ve had better matches than other ones and I hope this year with my experience of playing in New Haven, maybe it will help me and I will play better than the years before and reach more than the semi finals like last year.

“There are many good players here and it’s always good preparation to play here and get the most rhythm and be ready for the Open; it’s one of my favourite tournaments and I always feel good there and I will try here and next week in New York to do my best.” (via pilot pen tennis)

Nando made quick work of his opponent Paul Capdeville as he advanced through his opening-round match at Pilot Pen Tennis in just 49 minutes with a straight sets victory over the Chilean.

Nando broke Capdeville’s serve 5/11 times and only lost three points on his own first serve. Capdeville managed to break back while Nando was serving for the match, but Nando recovered quickly to take the second set and the match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Nando will go on to face either Yen-Hsun Lu or Andreas Seppi in the third round.