Fernando Verdasco

Fernando Verdasco Carmona (born 15 November 1983 in Madrid) is a professional tennis player from Spain. He is currently the second-highest ranked Spanish tennis player, behind world number 1 Rafael Nadal, ranking number 8 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight. As of 2009, Verdasco has been working in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and his team including Darren Cahill (Agassi’s former coach) and Gil Reyes (Agassi’s fitness coach).Verdasco has aided Spain in winning two Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009.

He turned professional in 2001, finishing as world number 464. 2002 was a good year for him, as he won his first Futures category title in Spain F1 and was runner-up in Spain F3. He played his second career challenger in Segovia, where he reached the final after beating Belarusian Vladimir Voltchkov in the semifinals. He then reached two additional Challenger semifinals in Kiev and in Eckental, finishing the year in the top 200, at 173.
Verdasco is an offensive baseliner who is comfortable on all surfaces, with fast hard courts being his best. Verdasco considers his best shot to be his forehand. His serve is characteristic of a left-handed player predominantly using slice to create a lot of spin, and is capable of speeds exceeding 230 km/h.