In surviving through the first of many testing passages of play, Nadal secured a second hold in as many service games. A backhand miss in the first deuce point again put him in danger of dropping his serve. Of those numerous five-setters, few have left as large an imprint on Australian Open history as that which saw a pair of Spanish southpaws combine to create 385 points worth of deliciously intense shotmaking pyrotechnics.Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco jousted with their groundstrokes throughout their five-hour, 14-minute semi-final, but they fought tirelessly with their hearts and minds too; the flint-hard resolve of both competitors contributed to making this match one of some renown as much as the excellence of the tennis did.Verdasco, annealed by coming through a highly interesting full-distance match with Andy Murray in the fourth round and a moderately challenging four-set quarter-final with 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, entered Rod Laver Arena for his first major semi-final bursting with a level of self-belief that made the possibility of him upending a third top 10 seed in a row far from unlikely. A tiebreak, inevitably, was the only way to separate them; either Nadal would curtail the spectacle then, and there or Verdasco would ensure that the show goes on for one more set.The question I find myself mulling over whenever I revisit the fourth set tiebreak is: Was its outcome caused by Nadal fluffing his lines or did Verdasco seize the moment in a fashion that wouldn’t have allowed for anything other than a blowout in his favour? The first sniff at a set point. Although Verdasco’s unforced errors for the third set numbered 17 by the middle of the eighth game, winners were cascading freely enough from his side of the net to offset the streakiness of his play.The back half of the third set paralleled the latter part of the first in that neither Verdasco nor Nadal made much of an impact on return. About the final, ... come back before the Australian Open LDAK (F) 1 decade ago. Take a stroll down memory lane and watch it in full below:Five set matches were common beyond normality at the 2009 Australian Open. US Open is planning disqualification for players with ... Novak Djokovic helps a girl with a serious illness Roger Federer: 'This strange time has given us a chance to reflect' WTA Prague Entry List update: will Simona Halep be there? Any word on Mo...Kyrgios is talking nonsense. Another in the following game, a rally Verdasco won after sending Nadal scurrying over every inch of the baseline, only to leave him flat-footed with a fizzing backspin drop shot. Verdasco, however, was unplayable for the most part. Login to reply the answers Post; webhush.com. Dominic Thiem: 'Facing Rafael Nadal in 2018 Roland Garros final was the toughest..' Serena Williams: Olympia wants to play tennis after my training,I can't say no to her Serena Williams’ AO nightmare Qiang Wang withdraws from US Open Rafael Nadal on his new yacht: It helps me restore positive energy Roger Federer: 'I have never seen my parents and friends' Roger Federer: 'It isn‘t the same anymore as 4, 8 or 10 years ago' 'I had no chance of beating Rafael Nadal', says Top 5 Rafael Nadal: 'I have to follow my heart and withdraw from the US Open' This segment of the match is remarkable alone for a couple of the “point of the tournament” contenders it contains: One when Nadal was serving at 3-4, which provides perhaps the most precise distillation of his unique defensive skills that I have ever seen. Since then it’s gone on to be one of the largest independently owned website for tennis news and a platform for fans to share their views on the game.The site primarily focuses on the men’s game with a bias towards Roger Federer but also covers the financials of the sports, equipment reviews, strings, and every tournament at Grand Slam, 1000, and 500 level.The mission of the site is to allow tennis journalists and fans freedom and creativity in their writing, personal commentary, and out-of-the-box analysis.If you want to learn a bit more about peRFect tennis and what to expect from the site, then head over to the People asking if Wilson are going blue. 23, to be precise, were played at Melbourne Park nine years ago, during what is still one of the very best Grand Slam tournaments to have transpired in the open era. To his credit, Verdasco varied the speed and placement of his serve impeccably well, in addition to dominating the rallies whenever his first or second delivery came back with any interest.Eventually, his streak of points won on serve ended at thirteen in the eighth game. Considering the number of winning forehands Verdasco produced in the tiebreak—he ended three of eight points by hitting one of his trademark lefty screamers—the premise of the question seems almost insensitive towards Nadal.Indeed, Nadal was conservative with the placement of some of his shots, understandably so given the magnitude of this juncture within the context of the match. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009.The tournament is remembered for containing many notable matches of the 2009 year, including the Nadal v Verdasco semi final … This problem-filled period on the Verdasco serve segued into a mini-crisis for Nadal on his, as he extricated himself from a 0-30 hole in the ninth game to hold.It’s a crying shame that Verdasco’s powers of perseverance, which had shown so few signs of waning throughout the set, left him completely when he was serving to stay in the match for the first time. A few months later Rafael Nadal sensationally lost the fourth round at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling: Roger Federer won the French Open that year and, a few weeks later, Wimbledon, surpassing Pete Sampras' Slam record. Suddenly I became Barack Obama! The coolest Australian Open was in 1986, when the maximum temperature averaged just 22.5 degrees Celsius, 3.5 degrees below normal.In the women's singles, last year's finalist and 5th seeded Day three saw the second round matches getting underway in In the women's draw, it was a perfect day for the seeds, with the exception of 17th-seeded The doubles matches also began, with most of the seeds in action passing their first tests, including Day four saw the conclusion of all second round matches in the singles competition.