Australian Open: Rafael Nadal upset in the first round

She saved nine break points in a match that lasted for an hour and 18 minutes, orchestrating the second biggest shocker in the tournament behind Verdasco’s win over Nadal.

Loses in five sets to fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open, in only his second loss in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Verdasco won 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to hand the fifth-seeded Nadal his first Australian Open first-round exit and just his second first-round loss in a major.

In his pomp, Nadal’s forehand was the most destructive shot in the game but he was out-powered by Verdasco, who hit an incredible 90 winners to his opponent’s 37.

Halep, the 2014 French Open finalist, lost, 6-4, 6-3, to Zhang Shuai, giving the No. 133-ranked Chinese qualifier her first win at a Grand Slam after 14 losses.

“I was closing my eyes and everything was coming in so I kept doing it”, Verdasco said with a mixture of humility and disbelief in a post-match interview.

“I played unbelievable in the fifth set after the break that he made – just started hitting winners”, Verdasco said. “I’m like, “I didn’t play again after that?’ Even last night they told me at the hotel (about the 2009 match) and I’m like, ‘I play against him tomorrow”.

“This year was a completely different story – I had been playing and practicing great and working so much, so it’s tough when you work so much and you arrive at a very important event and you go out so early”.

The world No. 2 blasted past young German Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-2 6-3 to join in-form Canadian Milos Raonic as an early day-two victor.

“I want to say thank you to my coach, my parents”.

Nadal and Verdasco fought tough and hard in the first set, with each player preserving their serves to force a tiebreak.

“I’m not really pro that”, Murray said. So I was hitting forehands, and he was able to keep hitting winners [That] can not happen when I am hitting my forehand. “I have just to take it like it is and go ahead”.

Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza of Spain is also through as she breezed to a commanding 6-4, 6-0 victory in her clash with Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in exactly an hour.

If someone is going to keep Djokovic from his fifth major title in the last seven tournaments and his 11th of his career, look no further than the Stanimal. “Game become a little bit more insane in this aspect”.

Asked about an internet article suggesting unusual betting patterns around his matches, Verdasco said: “There is many things that they said about someone”.

Hewitt delighted the Rod Laver Arena crowd by extending his career for at least another two days with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow Australian James Duckworth, sending his compatriots into a frenzy when he wrapped up the match with a trademark lob.

Verdasco, full name Fernando Verdasco Carmona, was born in November 15, 1983 and began playing tennis when he was four years old, practising with his father on the two hard courts in the backyard of their family home.