Verdasco Holds Off Djokovic In Thriller, Faces Ferrer In All-Spanish SF

© Getty ImagesFernando Verdasco will look to reach his third successive ATP World Tour final.

ATP World Tour No. 9 Fernando Verdasco was forced to call upon all his physical and mental reserves as he recorded his 12th win in 13 matches by defeating 2008 winner Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 in an enthralling quarter-final match Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament in Rome.

The Spaniard is through to his third ATP World Tour semi-final in as many weeks. Two weeks ago he reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final as he finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, and last week he captured his fifth ATP World Tour title at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell (d. Soderling).

En route to the final in Monte-Carlo Verdasco dismissed Djokovic 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals, but the left-hander was made to work far harder by the Serb in warm conditions on Friday afternoon at the Foro Italico. In a match lasting three hours and 18 minutes, Verdasco showed great mental and physical strength to hold off the World No. 2. It was the third-longest best-of-three-sets singles match on the ATP World Tour this season.

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Having twice squandered the opportunity to serve for the first set, Verdasco recovered to get the job done in the subsequent tie-break, but he could not match Djokovic’s improved level in the second set as the No. 2 seed raced to a 4-1 double-break lead. Verdasco recouped one of the service breaks, but was broken again himself in the ninth game as Djokovic forced a deciding set.

In an epic third game of the third set, Verdasco made good on his sixth break point opportunity to earn the decisive service break in the match. Riding a wave of confidence in what he has labelled the “best moment” of his career, Verdasco showed no nerves as he held serve four more times without incident to close out a dramatic victory.

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Reflecting on his performance, Verdasco said: "I think if you have to look at something (that made the difference) then it was my mentality; how I was taking the match up in the important points like that tie-break in the first set and also how I felt the match in the last game because he didn't give me an easy time. So, if I need to look at something then, it is the way I controlled the situation."

Verdasco, who also titled at the SAP Open (d. Roddick) in San Jose in February, improved to a 26-6 match record, the joint (w/Andy Roddick) second-best mark on the ATP World Tour this season.

The 22-year-old Djokovic was competing in the quarter-finals at the Foro Italico for the fourth straight year; in 2008 he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka to win the title and last year finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal. The Belgrade native has a 13-3 event record.

"I'm happy with the way I played, so definitely the French Open is the place where I want to get a good result," said Djokovic. "Obviously I'm very disappointed to lose the match. I was very close to victory and I know that this match could have gone either way; only a couple of points decided the winner. But he won because he played well and he deserved to win."

David Ferrer ensured there would be at least one Spaniard in the Rome final for the eighth time in the past 10 years as he crushed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-1 to set a semi-final clash with his countryman Verdasco. The No. 17-ranked Ferrer converted four of seven break points and recorded a high first-serve percentage of 78 per cent to seal victory in 72 minutes.

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The 28-year-old Ferrer is through to the semi-finals in Rome for the second time (l. to Nadal in 2005) and will look to reach the final of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time. The Valencia resident leads the ATP World Tour with a 22-3 match record on clay and a 28-8 overall record this season, including victory at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (d. Ferrero) in Acapulco and a runner-up finish at the Copa Telmex (l. to Ferrero) in Buenos Aires. 

Looking ahead to the clash with Ferrer, Verdasco commented: "He's a very tough player and looking at his results this year on clay, he's one of the best. Every time I play him I know it's a very tough match and so I hope tomorrow is going to be different. I will need my very best tennis if I want to beat him."