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Yesterday, Kyle Edmund was one of the players in our Seeds in Action on Day 5 article. He beat Diego Schwartzman like we predicted, but did it easier than expected as he won in straight sets. Fernando Verdasco meanwhile won one of the most exciting matches on Day 4, beating Herbert from a set down. Both had a good chance of being victorious when they met today, one being a seeded player and the other, in a good frame of mind.
It was a power-filled contest featuring two of the strongest players, physically. Verdasco used the backhand, which is not his strongest suit, to better effect than usual. On the other hand, Edmund, who generally has an average return, did it very well off his opponent's 2nd serves. There was no shortage of action in their Round of 16 encounter at the Vienna Open today, with Verdasco winning in 3 sets. Here is the story of the match.
Under The Spanish Heat - Set 1
Fernando Verdasco started the match in great fashion, much better than he did in his previous encounter on Tuesday. Returning off a player who has an accurate, powerful serve is challenging. But he didn't make it seem so when he broke the British No.1 in the very first game. His service game though left much to be desired as he surrendered the break back.
The Spaniard didn't let that linger on his mind, breaking serve again to go into the lead. With that, his service became better as he got 2 comfortable holds from. A big positive for him was the usage of backhand crosscourt shots, generally a liability in his game.
Serving at 4-3, Verdasco was under immense pressure from a counter-attacking Kyle Edmund. He faced a break point at 30-40 and a further two after deuce. But he saved all of them and held his next service game to take the first set.
Fernando's Ferocious Forehand
The full range of Verdasco's forehand shots was on display in the middle and latter part of the first set. It was helped by the fact that his backhands were played with a lot of purpose behind them. This meant that he could set up the forehand, his strong zone, much more efficiently.
The highlight of the Madrilenian's game was his usage of forehand down the liners and inside out shots. He has had a high ratio of errors on those shots in his career so far. The improvement would've been evident for most of those who have followed him at any point in time. One of the best strokes of the match was his running forehand pass down the line when Edmund left the gate open.
The Doha resident was no mug with the crosscourts either, thumping them from both sides. Fernando Verdasco had got off to the perfect start.
The Great British Fightback - Set 2
It was Kyle Edmund's turn to break early in the second set. After holding serve comfortably in Game 1, he broke the Verdasco serve effortlessly in the next. He was under the pump in his next 2 service games. The Brit saved a break point in the first, taking it after deuce. It was even tougher in the 5th game where he was 15-40 down. After saving another break point off the 4th deuce in the match from his serve, he won the game.
Without taking any credit away from Edmund, his Spanish adversary's service was disastrous in the set including a double fault double. In the first 2 sets, he lost more than 25 points on serve. Kyle Edmund promptly seized upon his weak second serves in the 2nd set to take it 6 games to 3.
Pressure Pays off, eventually!
Fernando Verdasco, after losing the second set applied the pressure on Kyle Edmund's serve straight away. He started off with an easy service hold and raced to 40-15 in the very next game. But his opponent pulled off a couple of superb serves to hold the game after deuce.
In the 6th game too Verdasco troubled Edmund's serve but the Brit held again. With all the pressure applied but nothing to show for it he concentrated on his own serve, getting another comfortable hold. He got a further 2 break points in the next game, this time making good use of them to break serve.
Serving for the set, it was the forehand that came to the fore again for Fernando. He made 3 consecutive inside-out winners to get 3 match points. Verdasco then played a forehand topspin, forcing Edmund to net a volley to win the match. This might just give the impetus needed to a career that has lost its way a bit.
