Miami – Fernando Verdasco stunned Rafael Nadal 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the Miami Masters on Sunday, denying his compatriot another chance at the title he has never won.
Nadal looked well off form as he went down to the Spaniard who also defeated him the last time they played in Madrid in 2012.
“I played some good games at the beginning, bad games at the end of the second set; some good games on the second; not bad at the beginning of the third,” said Nadal. “But he played well the third, so he deserved to win more than me without any doubt.”
Verdasco won only his second match from 15 played against second seed Nadal, who will now switch his attention to the clay.
“Obviously always beating a player like Rafa is one of the biggest victories that you can have in tennis,” said the winner. “Ït's a huge victory, and it's always really nice to play in ab almost packed stadium against one of the best players in history.
“At the end, you just try to enjoy the moment also. Not even winning or losing. You always try to win, but enjoy the moment.”
Verdasco, ranked 34th, spent two and a quarter hours in constructing his upset, starting by winning the opening set off a Nadal shank return after three quarters of an hour.
Nadal fought back to take the second, but slipped back to mediocrity in the third. He saved a match point in the eighth game of the second set after trailing 5-2.
Verdasco completed the upset scenario, finishing the win a game later with a return winner.
Verdasco ended with 36 unforced error and 29 winners; Nadal committed 32 unforced errors.
Nadal said that he needs to regain his mental strength.
“I need to fix again the nerves, the self control on court. It's not a tough issue to fix, I'm gonna keep trying.
“I'm practising with the right attitude, I think. I'm arriving in an important part of the season for me (clay). I didn't want arrive to that part of the season with that loss of today, obviously, but that part of the season will arrive.”
Andy Murray needed five match points to finally bury Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
Third seed Murray, winner of the title in 2009 and 2013, committed unforced errors on three of his first four winning chances before finally profiting from a lucky net cord bounce to end the early match after just under 90 minutes.
“I played well, it was a good performance,” said the Scot. “He came out and started swinging a bit towards the end of the match and made it a little bit tricky, but I thought for the most part I played very well.”
Murray is now a victory away from a 500th career win, which he could achieve if he beats 15th seed Kevin Anderson on Tuesday.
The Florida-based South African booked his place in the last 16
with a defeat of Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4.
France's Adrian Mannarino beat his first top 10 opponent in 13
attempts as he pounced on errors from seventh seed Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5). Gael Monfils knocked out injury-comeback French countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the number 11, with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) result.
In the women's draw, Serena Williams utilized her fearsome reputation and huge game to crush teenaged hopeful Catherine Bellis 6-1, 6-1 as the 19-time grand slam winner gave a tennis lesson to her young opponent.
Williams, 33, who made her own Miami debut a year before the 1999 birth of Bellis, needed 41 minutes to administer the WTA hammering to the 15-year-old.
Bellis will long remember the day.
“I was pretty nervous. I mean, she's number one in the world and like the best of all time for a reason,” said Bellis, the world's top junior. “It was just a really good experience for me for the future and I'm glad I got to do it, but she's a lot better than me for right now.”
Williams said she went out on court and did what she had to do against her compatriot.
“She's young and her being an American and her just doing so well, you want to see people like her do well,” Williams said.
“When you're up against them you have to put that aside. Even though I'm always cheering for her. Otherwise I have to put it aside and play the match.”
Williams said her current knee injury continues to improve. “I've been feeling pretty good, much better than I did in my last tournament. I've surpassed my expectations, to be honest.”
Last week's Indian Wells champion Simona Halep advanced over Camilla Georgi 6-4, 7-5. The Romanian is looking for a WTA-leading fourth trophy of 2015 after winning Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells.
Italian 11th seed Sara Errani advanced over Spain's Garbine Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, while Svetlana Kuznetsova will line up against Williams after beating German 13th seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The 15th seeded Flavia Pennetta beat two-time tournament winner Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), and Swiss teen Belinda Bencic defeated Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-4, 7-5. – Sapa-dpa