Barcelona QF: Gonzalez def. Verdasco 6-3 4-6 6-4

Entertaining match, next up is Pics Ferrer.

:dance:

Good stuff. Verdasco is definitely not the real deal.

Smart stuff from Gonzo creating that incident and getting the future of tennis out of balance completely.

VAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS FENA!!!

But good match by Nando

VAMOOOOOOSSS GONZO!!
woooohhhoooo!!

verdasco failed to take the initiative in the 3rd set, and the result was never in doubt.

Deserved win for Gonzo
Nando :sad:

wow, didn't expect that! Fena :rocker2:

should have been over in 2, but well..

None of those AO promises ever live up to expectations.

verdasco failed to take the initiative in the 3rd set, and the result was never in doubt.

He should have lost in straights. The guy is in a serious lack of skills in a strategy and tactical department.

Simon Reed... What happened? The World No. 1 Verdasco lost to Fernando "Maniac" Gonzalez? On clay? 7 aces to None? What happened? Verdasco is Baghdatis 2.0

Quarterdasco!

Lazy from Verdasco. Started like he couldn't be bothered, just raised his level to nick the 2nd, then got lazy again at the beginning of the 3rd, when Gonzo was really begging him to break. Failed twice, then gifted away his own serve with 5 UEs.

Gonzo looked much more motivated the whole way through. At the start he got off to a tasty 4-0 lead, but it also meant he got a little tight at moments as well - he could easily have lost the match at the start of the 3rd because of this, against a more competent opponent.


Idiotic shot choice from Verdasco a lot of the time. He was having great success pummelling the Gonzo backhand, and it eventually broke down pretty badly. Nadal would have relentlessly kept pounding that corner, but Verdasco persisted in mixing it up with midpace balls to the forehand, the ideal setup for Gonzo to hammer. It was one of these that resulted in the decisive break at 3-3 in the final set.

Future of Tennis. :)

The biggest FH won. :worship:

Expected result.

I liked watching this match. Any match with Gonzalez is a lot of fun irrespective of surface. Should have been over in 2.

best non-Australian Open match of the year

:worship:

:bowdown:Gonzo Verdasco:hug:

He should have lost in straights. The guy is in a serious lack of skills in a strategy and tactical department.

its all down to not using his brain.

Lots of nervy, cowardly floated balls in this one. The odd bit of spectacular hitting, as is mandatory between these two, but I had no idea a match-up between them could be so boring. If anything, Verdasco cared too much and he allowed that to cripple his play; there was no rhythm to his play, and Gonzalez was scarcely any better. Too many rallies where safety was the operative word, and risk taking not on the agenda. Verdasco is lucky he's out -if he'd reached the final Nadal would have taken him apart.

its all down to not using his brain.

i could not agree more. poor shot selection when it counted and slightly lacking in the testicular fortitude department.

the match was there for the taking and he didnt take it. he has to be very upset.

Good stuff. Verdasco is definitely not the real deal.

And obama is definitely not white.

i could not agree more. poor shot selection when it counted and slightly lacking in the testicular fortitude department.

the match was there for the taking and he didnt take it. he has to be very upset.

the testicular fortitude problem is what bothers me

gonzo was a sitting duck in the first 2 games of the 3rd set and verdasco just clowned along

then he screwed himself

Gonzo's forehand....too big.

Gonzo's forehand was too big today from the little snippets of the match that I managed to watch.

nice entretaining match from Gonzalez :D amazing forehand :worship:

I knew this would be a fun match :)

LMAO at the people who thought Verdasco would destroy Gonzalez in 2 quick sets :spit:

Another guy who has a fluke run at the AO and then does nothing. Happens every year.

f^ck yeaaaaaaaaah

:banana: :banana: :banana:

This stinks, cant believe that cheater won. Fuck.

None of those AO promises ever live up to expectations.

I don't think people should expect more from Verdasco than his current results, really. His consistency has already improved dramactically from previous years. I'd say the problem is not with Verdasco, but with overblown expectations that came out after his AO campaign.

I agree with the ones that think that Verdasco´s tennis is overestimated. He is a good player but with important lacks of concentration, and cannot be compared with the four best players. On the other hand, Gonzalez sometimes isn´t a fair player. I remember when he played with Nadal the first time they met, in Miami´s Master; in the warming he threw all the balls long, in order that Nadal couldn´t be fit for the beginning of the game.

Unexpected result. Guess Verdasco reverted back today.

:woohoo:

:cool:

well done Gonzo :worship:

I'm not ready to write Nando off yet. He's still doing much better than Baghdatis, Tsonga, and Gonzalez did after their unexpectedly big runs in the AO the past few years.

And obama is definitely not white.



:haha::haha::haha:

OBAMA!:rocker:

ETA: Seriously?! We've come to Baghdatis on Verdasco? I don't really care for FerDasco, but it's far from bad as all that.

Very nicely done Feña, on track for a good season.

I'm not ready to write Nando off yet. He's still doing much better than Baghdatis, Tsonga, and Gonzalez did after their unexpectedly big runs in the AO the past few years.

No, Tsonga's doing fine. He had a surgery since then and came back to win a MS. Give him time. He should be planted in the top ten after a year of healthy play.

The player of the future was guaranteed to win this match.

I don't think people should expect more from Verdasco than his current results, really. His consistency has already improved dramactically from previous years. I'd say the problem is not with Verdasco, but with overblown expectations that came out after his AO campaign.

Clearly correct, one has only to look at Nando's losses since the AO.

Gonzo on fire!!!

I don't think people should expect more from Verdasco than his current results, really. His consistency has already improved dramactically from previous years. I'd say the problem is not with Verdasco, but with overblown expectations that came out after his AO campaign.
I have been very guilty of bandwagoning since the AO, I do admit...:D

That said, I have faith that his AO run was not a fluke, and that's it's something that could be repeated in other slams. His consistent results since the AO really have not been the effect of just the AO. Research seems to show that he was building up his consistency since the second half of 2008 in reaching a career-best Roland Garros result, a final and then winning a title in the space of a couple of months, getting a career-best Wimbledon result, and consistently climbing the rankings. All this was before the Davis Cup thing. Even before the AO started he was seen by some as a dark horse due to his consistency over the second half of '08 (and the start of 09 before AO of course - read this: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_wertheim/01/16/mens.seeds/index.html).

So, all that said, I hope he can keep it up. I think that will be the best cure for dealing with the expectation put on him since AO - making sure to keep up the consistent results so eventually he'll get used to the expectation. I mean hell, it wasn't so long ago that Nando used to lose in the first rounds of the tournaments he's made the quarters at so far this year. :D

I think another quarterfinal is in store in Rome. I hope he'd make it that far 'cause then he'd have to face Rafa.