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5/10/11 10:37 PM | Ricky Dimon
Robin Soderling wins a bizarre thriller against Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday in Rome. Soderling recovers from a huge deficit to reach the third round in improbable fashion.
Fernando Verdasco had every chance to possibly turn his season around with a big win on Tuesday. Instead, he suffered one of his most crushing defeats.
Robin Soderling stormed back from three match points down to stun Verdasco 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Soderling won 102 total points to Verdasco's 104, but it was the world No. 4 who advanced after two hours and 42 minutes of play.
Showing no resemblance to the player who had slumped throughout 2010, Verdasco came out firing. He opened the match with a break and added another one shortly thereafter in what was an absolutely dominant first set. One break would have been enough for the world No. 17, because he dropped only seven points in his first four service games and did not face a single break point.
What turned into a marathon of a match could have ended in straight sets, as Verdasco had innumerable chances to clinch victory. He went up a break on an incredible three occasions in the second frame of play, including right away at 1-0. Verdasco's third break of the set came thanks to clutch play at 4-4, striking a cross-court forehand pass to give himself a chance to serve for the match.
Even by 2011 Verdasco standards, though, what happened next was downright shocking. Despite taking a 40-0 lead and earning three match points, the Spaniard could not close the deal. After blowing his first two opportunities, Verdasco double-faulted on his third match point at 40-30. Two more double-faults led to an improbable break for Soderling.
With momentum in hand, Soderling survived a tough service game and held for 6-5. There was no recovering for Verdasco, who promptly donate serve again. To cap off the hard-to-believe set, Verdasco struck two consecutive errors starting at 30-30 to ensure a third and final frame of play.
As if the match had not already been bizarre enough, the third set got off to a rocky start. Despite having the edge and surely wanting to get right back on the court, Soderling took a medical timeout for a foot blister. Then, after the No. 4 seed held for 1-0, the lights suddenly went out on Court Pietrangeli.
Action resumed following a brief delay and this time it was the favorite's turn to squander a considerable lead. Soderling won the first three games of the set only to see Verdasco emerge from despair and take three consecutive games of his own. Three holds later, Verdasco found himself serving to stay in the match. He fell into 0-40 deficit, saved one match point, but then sealed his fate by sending a forehand wide.
An back-and-forth, error-filled match saw Soderling prevail despite striking 17 winners to a woeful 49 unforced errors. Verdasco finished with a more respectable 38 winners and 52 mistakes, yet he still found a way to lose.
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I bet Verdasco can't sleep after that match. What a collapse, he had the match in his hand and he collapsed big time and literally gave away the match! No hope for him, I'm afraid. He might as well go enjoy his life elsewhere than waste his time on the tennis court.
luckystar , 5/11/11 6:56 AM
FeVer choked away that match.
IMO, he needs to see Nole's psychologist.
mara002 , 5/11/11 9:33 AM
C'mon lucky, that's a bit too harsh, don't you think? :)
I would trade sides with Verdasco any day, even if I were to lose all my matches :)
Shireling , 5/11/11 12:51 PM
That was pretty dreadful on the part of Verdasco. 5-4, 40-0 serving for the match and you LOSE?!
cherylmurray , 5/11/11 1:35 PM
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Wow...what a tough collapse for Verdasco....he looked so good a couple of years ago...can he come back to his old form? Scoot f ATL.
scoot , 5/11/11 3:43 AM