Verdasco already eyeing Davis Cup final
World No.7 wants to go out and help Spain successfully defend crown
London: With his chances of making Saturday’s semifinals hanging by a thread following two straight defeats at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Fernando Verdasco has slowly shifted focus to next week’s final of the 2009 Davis Cup against the Czech Republic.
The two captains Albert Costa and Jaroslav Navratil have already announced their teams for the 2009 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Spain and Czech Republic scheduled to held from December 4-6 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.
Rafael Nadal will be leading the four-man squad for Spain, alongside current world No. 8 Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez, while Juan Carlos Ferrero, who played a vital role in Spain’s quarterfinal and semifinal victories will travel as the first substitute.
Czech Republic will travel to Barcelona with world No. 12 Radek Stepanek and No. 20 Tomas Berdych, who together have won all nine rubbers to lead the Czechs to their first final in 29 years. Grand Slam doubles champion Lukas Dlouhy, and Jan Hajek, who made his Davis Cup debut this year will be the other two members on the team.
“I will go to Davis Cup next week, so I need to keep trying to get my best level,” Verdasco stated.
The Spaniard will be hoping that some quirk of fate can still keep him for the next stage of the competition here. However, he has to first play Murray on Thursday and then rely on a whole load of permutations and combinations, if he should beat the Briton.
Whatever the result, Verdasco is just happy to take another strong match under his belt and start getting sharper for next week’s Davis Cup final. “I think I will just have to go out there and play my best (against Murray). It doesn’t matter if I have chances to qualify or not. I am here to try my best and to enjoy,” Verdasco said.
“You just don’t need good tennis against such big players. You need to also play very important moments and not make mistakes,” Verdasco said.
Verdasco, Ferrer and Lopez were part of the 2008 champion team that defeated Argentina in Mar del Plata last December for the title. Nadal, however, has missed last year’s Davis Cup Final in Argentina, as also Spain’s quarterfinals and semifinals this season due to his injured knees.
