Andys Wins Over Verdasco

Andy came through a nail biting third set against Fernando Verdasco on Friday evening to book his spot in the Wimbledon fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(2) victory.

The match didn’t make it on to court until 7pm with James Blake’s match going deep into a fourth set, however the fans stayed late and made plenty of noise when Andy and Verdasco finally made it onto court.

The first two sets were a tale of Andy capitalising on Verdasco’s errors to get key breaks of serves. Both men put on a great serving display early on in the match, but it was Verdasco who cracked first at 2-1 as his inconsistency from the back of the court cost him and Andy was able to break.

Dominant on serve throughout the match, Andy gave Verdasco no chance to get back into the set with some neat volleying keeping the Spaniard at bay, and he promptly closed it out with a confident service game at 5-3.

Verdasco ran into the same problems in the second set, playing a loose opening game which Andy was quick to take advantage of and break to lead 2-0. Tremendous and unrelentless serving from Andy kept the pressure on Verdasco and Andy raced into a 3-2 lead.

Andy got into a slight spot of bother at 3-2 thanks to some inspired play from Verdasco, but more fine serving from Andy alleviated the danger and he was quickly back on top for a 4-2 lead. More big time play from Andy at 5-4 saw him close out the set 6-4 as he hit a big forehand on set point.

There was a very entertaining start to the third set, with both men playing some great and exciting tennis which kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Andy had to save a break point at 1-0, but did so with yet another big serve to delight the fans and frustrate his opponent.

Verdasco did finally get himself a break of serve at 2-1 though as he made the most of Andy’s slight dip in form and great serving from the Spaniard put him in front 4-1. At this stage Andy fans were most likely behind the sofa as Verdasco hit a purple patch, and had chances for a double break, but once again Andy’s serve saw him through his game and kept him on Verdasco’s tail.

His hard work paid off as Verdasco felt the pressure when it came to serving for the set. With the light fading on Court One, Andy hit back at Verdasco playing some great low passing shots to expose Verdasco at the net and he was able to level up the match at 5-4.

Verdasco didn’t crumble though, he had more chances to break Andy’s serve at 5-4 and 6-5, but once again found himself unable to return Andy’s monster serve which was so exemplary on Friday evening. With the set being decided on the tie break there was only going to be one winner as Andy broke Verdasco at 2-2 with a fantastic lob, and as he raced into a 6-2 lead Verdasco sliced a backhand into the net to give Andy a hard fought but much deserved victory.

Well done, Andy!