Old guard are by no means finished yet, Verdasco says
Spaniard predicts tough last-eight clash against fourth seeded Monfils
The older generation of men’s tennis players have no intention of slowing down, not at least for the moment.
33-year-old Fernando Verdasco secured a convincing 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over 28-year-old countryman Roberto Bautista Agut and then promised he, or any of the 30-plus players are not done with the sport.
“I don’t know. I feel old. I feel old and tired after these kind of matches,” Verdasco told the media after his entry into the last eight stage.
“I think it’s about everything. I think it’s the medicine, the physiotherapy treatments for recovery and everything together what makes a player have a longer career. I think, and what makes players, Roger [Federer] or Feliciano Lopez or myself or Ferrer or, I mean, many of us still be able to be in the top, some top 10, some top 20, some top 30, but whatever, to keep trying to beat the young guys,” he added.
Another aspect is that of staying consistent and committed to the sport. “Of course, if you don’t have the motivation and you are consistent and you practice and you give everything you can, every day is even impossible to be there because the medicine or the physiotherapy is not magic. At the end you have to run and you have to win and you have to stay mentally tough. It’s so, so complicated,” he smiled.
“What we are trying to do is going well for the moment. So hopefully we can be around for a few more years there, fighting and giving a little bit of bad days to the young guys.”
Mental challenge
Verdasco says he is mentally ready for yet another challenge as he lines up to meet Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals today.
“They are both different styles. Monfils is one of the best defenders on the tour, but also, he has a really good serve, good forehand, sometimes very good backhand, too. He can make allof-a-sudden unbelievable shots. But for sure, also, the best thing is his movement. He covers all the court. His flexibility, his energy, everything on the court, meaning about movement, is amazing. He’s a really tough opponent,” Verdasco noted.
“I think that it is gonna be a very tough quarter-finals,” he added.
Dubai quarter-finalist