Verdasco knocks Nadal out of Australian Open

Down 2-0 in the final set, world number 45 Verdasco dragged himself off the canvas with a barrage of booming forehand winners, breaking Rafael Nadal twice to move to the brink of victory.

However, after re-watching the 2009 epic on more than 10 occasions, Verdasco exacted some revenge in a 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 first-round victory on Rod Laver Arena.

It took 5 hours and 14 minutes, seven years ago for Rafael Nadal to edge past Fernando Verdasco in the longest semifinal in the tournament’s history.

Fernando Verdasco knocked Rafa Nadal out of the Australian Open – then called for tennis betting to be banned as he was quizzed about match-fixing, writes Neil McLeman in Melbourne.

Miracles do happen and for Verdasco, the player was deemed a tough opponent this season- he undeniably smashed 90 winners and 91 unforced errors in Melbourne Park this time. I was closing the eyes and everything when I was coming in. Verdasco advances to the second round while Nadal now has two losses already in 2016, his first being in the finals at Qatar to Novak Djokovic, the men’s No. 1 seed.

Fifth set stats indicated that Nadal could have been more aggressive, as he failed to land any aces and came to the net just once, unsuccessfully.

Verdasco wil play Dudi Sela of Israel, a 6-1 6-3 2-6 6-2 victor over German Benjamin Becker earlier on Tuesday, in the next round. Back then, Nadal had got the best of Verdasco in a monster five-setter.

Nadal, though, is clearly not the powerhouse presence he once was either, having crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon previous year and the third round at the US Open.

Muguruza wasted little time as she beat Estonian debutante Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-4 in one hour exactly-and immediately set her sights on dethroning Serena Williams in the final. “Is tough when you work so much and arrives a very important event and you’re going out too early”. Zhang beat Halep with a score of 6-4, 6-3.

The latest chastening loss for Nadal, 29, extends a Grand Slam dry spell which goes back to the 2014 French Open, and will increase fears over his long-term ability to compete at the elite level. “I have been playing and practicing great and working so much”.

The reports alleged 16 players, all ranked in the top 50 at some stage and half of them playing at the Australian Open, had repeatedly raised suspicion due to their results but had not been sanctioned. “You know, I was pretty pumped up before I went on”.

Venus Williams, seeded eighth after a resurgent 2015, also was upset in the first round, 6-4, 6-2, by Sydney-born British player Johanna Konta, ranked No. 47 in the world.

Queenslander John Millman is also through to the second round after Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman retired in the fourth set out on court six, while holding a two-sets-to-one lead.