Fernando Verdasco

Full name is Fernando Verdasco Carmona...Began playing tennis at age four with his father, Jose, at their home, which had two hard courts in the backyard...Father and mother, Olga, own a restaurant in Madrid...Has two sisters, Sara and Ana...Close friend of Feliciano Lopez, who is also from Madrid...Favorite soccer team is Real Madrid...His favorite non-tennis destinations are Miami and Las Vegas...Considers forehand his best shot...Posed nude for Cosmopolitan Magazine in July 2008 issue to raise awareness of male cancer for Everyman Campaign...Has a 9-6 career Davis Cup record (4-3 in singles) in nine ties...Works part-time with former Andre Agassi mentor Darren Cahill along with fitness guru Gil Reyes.

2002 -- In reached final at Segovia Challenger (d. Pioline, l. to Mutis)...In his second ATP outing in Sopot, defeated Puerta in 1st RD (l. to Squillari)...In doubles, won back-to-back Futures titles...

2003 -- Qualified six times during season, tied for second most for year, including Miami where he reached 3rd RD and Wimbledon (1st RD)...Turned in 3rd RD showing at US Open where he came in as a lucky loser and posted wins over No. 17 Robredo and Sanguinetti (l. to Srichaphan)...

2004 -- Won his first ATP title in Valencia without dropping a set (d. No. 3 Ferrero in SF, Montanes in F) and runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Moya)....Reached SF in Kitzbnhel...Advanced to back-to-back QF in Halle and 's-Hertogenbosch, and later in Stockholm...In doubles, claimed first ATP title in Stockholm (w/Lopez)...

2005 -- Reached third ATP final in Kitzbuhel (l. to Gaudio) and first AMS QF in Rome (d. Davydenko, Roddick; l. to Coria)...Also QF in New Haven and 4th RD at US Open (d. Henman in 1st RD, l. to Nieminen)...Reached SF in St. Petersburg...Went 2-4 vs. Top 10 opponents with both wins over No. 3 Roddick (Miami, Rome)...

2006 -- Made 3rd RD exit to Roddick at both AMS Indian Wells and Miami...Later lost to Roddick in five sets in 3rd RD at US Open...Reached SF in Valencia and Kitzbuehel ...Also QF at AMS Hamburg, Gstaad and Palermo... Achieved Wimbledon-best 4th RD (d. No. 3 Nalbandian in 3rd RD)...

2007 -- Finished in Top 30 for first time at No. 26 highlighted by runner-up in St. Petersburg (l. to Murray)...Compiled a 23-12 record from July-on after beginning first half of year with an 11-16 mark...Advanced to 4th RD at Roland Garros (d. Ferrer, l. to Djokovic) along with 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Roddick) and US Open (l. to Berdych)...In July, reached QF in Stuttgart (d. Ferrer, l. to Chela), SF in Kitzbuhel and followed with title at Segovia Challenger (d. A. Jones) in Spain...Finished with SF in Bangkok, QF in Tokyo...In doubles, reached final in Stuttgart (w/Garcia-Lopez).

2008 --The Madrid native finished in Top 20 for first time by winning a career-high 47 matches and his second ATP title...Helped his country to Davis Cup title (d. Argentina 3-1), clinching the tie with a five-set win over Acasuso...Also won doubles match and finished 3-1 (w/Lopez) during the year...After compiling a 9-10 mark in first four months, went 38-17 rest of season, highlighted by ATP title in Umag (d. Andreev) and runner-up in Nottingham (l. to Karlovic)....Also SF in Bastad, New Haven and St. Petersburg and QF in three other tournaments...Best Grand Slam showing was 4th RD at Roland Garros (l. Nadal) and Wimbledon (l. to Ancic 13-11 in fifth set)...Went 1-6 vs. Top 10 opponents with lone win over No. 5 Ferrer at AMS Hamburg...Compiled marks of 22-16 on hard, 17-8 on clay and 8-3 on grass...Led Ricoh ATP MatchFacts in first serve percentage (73%)...Earned a career-high $977,961.

2009 

The Spanish left-hander is off to a career-best 26-10 start and he reached a career-high No. 7 on Apr. 20…Has advanced to the QFs or better in eight of 10 tournaments…He opened the first month of the season winning nine of 11 matches, highlighted by his first ATP World Tour hard court final in Brisbane (l. to Stepanek)…Then followed with a career-best SF showing at Australian Open...Posted back-to-back wins over No. 4 Murray in five sets in 4th Rd. and No. 6 Tsonga in QF before falling in an epic five-set marathon to countryman and World No. 1 Nadal...Played longest singles match in tournament history (5:14) and afterwards broke into Top 10 for first time at No. 9 (from No. 15) on Feb. 2...Injured his left foot in Australia and withdrew from Dubai and first round Davis Cup tie vs. Serbia…Spent one month working with former Andre Agassi fitness guru Gil Reyes in Las Vegas…Returned to action in March and reached the QF for the first time at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with three wins before losing to No. 2 Roger Federer…He reached his first QF at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, highlighted by wins over No. 32 seed and countryman Feliciano Lopez and No. 18 seed Radek Stepanek before falling to eventual champion Andy Murray…Opened his clay court campaign by reaching the QF at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, losing to No. 3 Novak Djokovic in three sets…On home soil in Barcelona, he advanced to the QF for the first time, losing to Fernando Gonzalez in three sets…He continued consistent play by reaching the QF in Rome (d. Fish, Gasquet), losing to countryman and eventual champion Rafael Nadal…The Madrid native performed well in his hometown by reaching the QFs for the first time, losing to countryman Nadal (after holding a 4-0 lead in the second set)…Followed with fourth round at Roland Garros for third straight year, losing to Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets.