Melbourne: That he is losing his aura of invincibility was proved once more when Spaniard Fernando Verdasco sent shockwaves through the Australian Open here Tuesday by defeating Rafa Nadal 7-6(8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-2 to send the former World No. 1 crashing out in the opening round. There were no such problems for Andy Murray though. The second seed had a walk in the park against Alexander Zverev — one, two and three to advance.
But all that faded into oblivion as Verdasco turned up the heat against countryman Nadal. His forehand found angles on all sides of the court which had Nadal exasperated as the Spaniard lost in the first round of the Australian Open for the first time. In a match that lasted four hours and 41 minutes Verdasco had 87 outright winners and Nadal, no don’t blink your eyes, only 37.
Down 0-2 in the final set, World No. 45 Verdasco dragged himself off the canvas with a barrage of booming forehand winners, breaking Nadal twice to move to the brink of victory. He then broke his compatriot a third time, sealing the contest with a cross-court winner that left the Rod Laver Arena crowd stunned late in the day session.
“I just hit everything. I think I played unbelievable in the fifth set from the break,” Verdasco said in a courtside interview with two-time former champion Jim Courier. “But let me eat first… otherwise I will be dead,” he joked. “I just started hitting winners. I don’t know how. I was closing the eyes and everything when I was coming in.”
The only other time Nadal was beaten so early in a Grand Slam was when Steve Darcis sent him crashing out of Wimbledon in 2013.
Verdasco will now meet Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who won a five hour 22 minute epic against Ernst Guilibis with the fifth set ending 13-11 in the former’s favour.
Murray, however, looked quite at ease against World No. 95 Zverev. But he lamented at the end of the match that he did not get the work out he expected. “Good that I won easy, would have been better if I had a few more balls to hit in the match,” said the Brit, who is also being greeted by fellow players, fans and even the ball boys and girls well in advance as wife Kim is expecting.
Eighth seed David Federer kept the Spanish hopes alive while Milos Raonic also sailed through to the next round with convincing victories. Ferrer defeated Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 while Raonic riding on his 22 aces won 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 against Louis Pouille of France.