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6/21/11 9:35 PM | Cheryl Murray
Fernando Verdasco came back from the brink to overcome an in-form Radek Stepanek in a first round thriller.
It was a rocky start for Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at the 2011 Wimbledon. The Spaniard drew crafty Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, a serve and volley specialist.
Verdasco was not in particularly good form at the start of the match. The first two sets flew by quickly, with Stepanek dominating on the speedy courts with his aggressive style of play. With a two set lead to the Czech, Verdasco appeared set for another early round loss at a major (the Spaniard crashed out of the French Open in the third round).
Suddenly in the third set, Verdasco started to find his range. The Spaniard clung to his Wimbledon life, taking the third on a single break of serve.
The two men stayed on level terms to force a fourth set tiebreaker. Verdasco found himself down a match point at 6-5 with Stepanek serving for the match. The Spaniard threaded a brilliant passing shot past Stepanek to save match point and secured a minibreak on the Czech’s other service point, eventually forcing the deciding fifth. Verdasco was finally able to secure the win after an hour-long decider.
Verdasco will take on Robin Haase on Wednesday in the second round.
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