Match report

Florent Serra © Tennistalk.com
Countrywide Classic
2nd round
8/6/08 1 2 Tot
fr  Florent Serra 6 7 7 2
es  Fernando Verdasco 2 6 4 0
Fernando Verdasco © Tennistalk.com

  • Day of upsets sees Verdasco and Lopez crash out

    8/7/08 1:35 PM | David Cox
    2nd seed Fernando Verdasco was the biggest casualty on day 3 of the Countrywide Classic, falling 6-2, 7-6(4) to out of form Frenchman Florent Serra who enjoyed his biggest win for some time

    Verdasco was severely hampered by injuries to both ankles and it was probably an unwise decision for the Spaniard to compete here as he admitted afterwards, the injuries would have forced him to withdraw from many other tournaments. Verdasco did not state what he felt was so special about the ATP in LA but he insisted Serra should take full credit for his performance “He played so good, whenever my shots landed short he was immediately on top, so aggressive with the forehand and he made a lot of winners. He served so good in important moments.”

    Verdasco only managed to win 28% of the points when he didn't get his booming first serve in and Serra's excellent returning consistently pressurized the 2nd seed to go for more pace than he was comfortable with on the 2nd serve, resulting in 10 double faults

    Serra was delighted with his tennis given how unpredictable an opponent Verdasco can be “He hits with a lot of pace and variety, sometimes there is a chip and sometimes he hits very flat down the line with his forehand so I had to react very very fast and not give him too many cheap points.”

    Another Spaniard fell by the wayside in his opening match. Denis Gremelmayr took out 4th seed Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 7-5. It's a little bit of a consolation for Gremelmayr who missed out on the Olympics after Rainer Schuettler's run at Wimbledon.

    However 5th and 6th seeds Marat Safin and Mardy Fish progressed with little trouble

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fr  Florent Serra es  Fernando Verdasco
Countrywide Classic  Countrywide Classic