Rafael Nadal
Nadal’s win over Gilles Simon was definitely his toughest match yet. The Frenchman pushed Nadal in the last two sets and really made him work hard. Still, he has yet to drop a set in the tournament, and he hasn’t even had to go to a tiebreaker!
Verdasco reached his first career Grand Slam semi with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The powerful lefty had never before been out of the fourth round of any Grand Slam, and now he is one win away from the finals.
In six previous matches with each other, Nadal has won all of them and has only lost one set. The last time they faced was in the fourth round of the 2008 French Open and Nadal won that 6-1, 6-0, 6-2. We’ve got a matchup of two lefty-Spaniards that know what to do with the ball. Verdasco has had a fantastic tournament, showing great versatility and proving to the world that he belongs on top. He has a good serve, monster forehand, and can definitely make things difficult for Nadal. He also has benefitted greatly from the time he spent in Las Vegas with Gil Reyes and Andre Agassi. Look, I don’t think this is a question of will Nadal win this match, because I think we all know the answer to that. The bigger question is can Verdasco take a set or two off Nadal and make him work for it. With the way Nadal is playing, and due to the fact that he has now added a better serve and forehand to his game, the edge goes to him
Nadal’s win over Gilles Simon was definitely his toughest match yet. The Frenchman pushed Nadal in the last two sets and really made him work hard. Still, he has yet to drop a set in the tournament, and he hasn’t even had to go to a tiebreaker!
Verdasco reached his first career Grand Slam semi with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The powerful lefty had never before been out of the fourth round of any Grand Slam, and now he is one win away from the finals.
In six previous matches with each other, Nadal has won all of them and has only lost one set. The last time they faced was in the fourth round of the 2008 French Open and Nadal won that 6-1, 6-0, 6-2. We’ve got a matchup of two lefty-Spaniards that know what to do with the ball. Verdasco has had a fantastic tournament, showing great versatility and proving to the world that he belongs on top. He has a good serve, monster forehand, and can definitely make things difficult for Nadal. He also has benefitted greatly from the time he spent in Las Vegas with Gil Reyes and Andre Agassi. Look, I don’t think this is a question of will Nadal win this match, because I think we all know the answer to that. The bigger question is can Verdasco take a set or two off Nadal and make him work for it. With the way Nadal is playing, and due to the fact that he has now added a better serve and forehand to his game, the edge goes to him
