Catching Up With... Fernando Verdasco

© Getty ImagesVerdasco defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(4) in Cincinnati on Monday.

World No. 21 Fernando Verdasco is looking to recapture the form that saw him break into the Top 10 in 2009.

Since losing in the second round at Wimbledon, the Spaniard has compiled a 9-4 mark, reaching the final in Gstaad, the semi-finals in Hamburg, and the quarter-finals in Washington D.C.

On Monday in Cincinnati, Verdasco defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(4) in the first round of the Western & Southern Open. ATPWorldTour.com caught up with the 27 year old afterwards.

During your career, you’ve be successful on hard courts, winning two titles and reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open and quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows twice. How do the conditions in Cincinnati translate into your style of play?
I really like to play here. The conditions sometimes are not easy, when it’s really, really hot. It’s not easy to be on the court, because sometimes you really suffer being there outside. But it’s like that for every player. I think I’m one of the players who like playing in the heat, with high temperatures. Sometimes it’s also windy, like today, but in general I like the courts. I think I can really play well here with the conditions at this tournament.

I’m feeling good in Cincinnati so far. I just won my first match and just need to go day by day, trying my best to win. I’m happy with how I’ve played the last few weeks and I’m just trying to get better and better. The US Open is the big test of the summer and it’s where I want to be 200 per cent. I have to defend my quarter-finals result from last year and the year before and try to do even better this year. But for that, you have to be at your best level, so that is what I will try to do.

Since Wimbledon, you've had some solid results. What adjustments have you made and what’s been working well for you?
Well I’m just trying to be more consistent and have more confidence with my game. At Wimbledon, I didn’t really play bad in my first match against Stepanek, but with the rain delays, I was a bit unlucky to play the next day after I played five sets that went for four hours and 15 minutes with Stepanek. I was really tired when I played against Haase. My leg was a little heavy and I couldn’t really play my best tennis.

After that I just practised and tried to get confident. I went to Davis Cup… didn’t play singles but played the doubles and practised hard the whole week there, trying to get rhythm for the tournaments right after. I think the tournaments at Hamburg, Gstaad and Washington, I did pretty good. Of course you can always do better but semi-finals, a final and quarter-finals are not bad results. They gave me confidence to try and regain the game I had in 2010 and 2009.

Then in Montreal, it was a little bit of everything. I had a match, then a rain delay, then play suspended till the next day, finish in the morning, waiting all day, then playing in the afternoon. When we went to play, it started raining again, so to play like that was hard mentally, staying all day at the club, starting and stopping. But Tipsarevic is a great player. I was there and had my chances. He just played better than me, and after that, he made it to the semi-finals, so I lost to a good player. Sometimes you lose these matches and you just have to keep trying, keep practising for the next tournament.

You are a big Real Madrid fan. How are they going to do this season?
Ha, I hope better than last season. They won one title and they were close with the two big titles, losing against Barcelona. Hopefully this year they will be one step better, and finally win the 10th Champions League title that the Real Madrid fans are waiting for.