What did Fernando Verdasco do after his draw-busting upset over Rafael Nadal on Tuesday in Melbourne. Why he gave a massage to 37-year-old Radek Stepanek, of course.
The Spaniard, who will face Dudi Sela in the second round, also took time to chat about his victory with press.
“Of course, I thought many days, many times about that semifinal. You know, it was my longest match ever. It was my first time in semis, and after that also,” he said.
As it turns out, Verdasco was looking forward to playing doubles with Nadal this season, but he was not relishing having to face his good friend and compatriot in the first round of the year’s first major.
Afterwards, he said that the two exchanged kind words at the net. He talked about his relationship with Nadal with reporters during his press conferencet.
“Well, he told me - let me translate in my brain - like ‘well done; you played really good,’” Verdasco said. “So I said, like, you know, thanks, because at the end we have like a really good relationship outside the court. We have been playing doubles last year after many years being professional.
“You know, is tough to play against him in first round when you are just thinking about playing a few tournaments with him. At the end, you know, you just going out there during the time of the match and try your best. You fight for your things and he fight for his.
“You know, it is what it is in tennis. It's like that, no? But like if I have to choose, I will choose many other players before playing against him. We were just talking the day before on the text messages about which tournaments we can play. Then when I saw the draw, I was like, Oh, that's unlucky.”