Fernando Verdasco vs Rafael Nadal
Trending
More of a revenge match than an actual rivalry, this one promises to be a whopper if it happens. Fernando Verdasco, although lower on titles than his rivals, has time and again showed his skill in pulling off upsets against the Big 4.
Perhaps the most ignominous of these – for Nadal, anyway, was the former No. 1’s first-round, five-set loss to Verdasco at the 2016 Australian Open. That loss may not have been as bad for the fact that it was in the first round of the Grand Slam, marking Nadal’s earliest ever exit at a major in his entire career.
Now, after a difficult 2016 that saw him struggle marginally with injury, and largely with burnout, Nadal is back and fitter than ever.
All three of Verdasco’s wins over Nadal in the pair’s 18-match history, however, have come in the pair’s last 5 outings – the most recent of which, incidentally, was at Indian Wells last year, with Nadal winning in straight sets. The scoreline itself was strange, however, with Nadal bagelling Verdasco in the first set, only for his lower-ranked compatriot to take the second to a long tiebreak.
Verdasco is fresh off a finals finish at the ATP Dubai Duty Free Championships, en route to which he beat two seeded players – countryman and 2017 Chennai Open champion Roberto Bautista Agut, who was seeded sixth, and the mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils, following which he went down rather tamely to World No. 1 Andy Murray.
Given the pair’s rivalry, this revenge match will be an entertaining one.
This match could take place in Round 3.
Who Are Roger Federer's Kids? Know All About Federer's Twins
