"I Can Feel Something Inside Me Sayin', I Really Don't Think You're Strong Enough."

(Pic for Forty Deuce by Love All)

A somewhat interesting but not all that revealing profile on The 'Hawk.

Where his compatriot Rafael Nadal chooses his words with care and speaks only when he’s figured out what he wants to say, Verdasco finds out what he thinks as he’s speaking. If he goes on long enough, he’ll get to the truth eventually. No wonder he and Ana Ivanovic broke up—neither of them must have been able to get a word in edgewise.

Heh.

He said that “getting physically stronger, I know I can play longer and be more patient in rallies,” and that he had been waiting for this moment for “many years.” His loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals was the “best match for me, and the ultimate experience on a court.” Verdasco was clearly moved by the fan reaction in Oz—instead of taunting him, they been chanting his name, which was an “unbelievable feeling, I didn’t think that could ever happen.” He said his relationship to fans everywhere had been transformed by that one match.

I think it's interesting how much Fer seems to care about fan reaction to him.  It totally jives with my personal observations of him at IW.  He would be walking across the field and if someone called out his name to ask for an autograph, he smiled, puffed out his massive chest, came over and obliged, never wiping that charming, but somewhat skeezy smirk off his face.

I guess my take on Fernando is that he's actually a pretty nice guy with very little self-belief in his game (well, at least his tennis game).  He needs people in his corner, whether it be fans, the crowd, the press, or Team Adidas, to reassure him, massage his ego, and remind him that he belongs and that he's good. 

It'll be interesting to see how far he gets with this sort of mentality.  Because if you look at the top of the men's game (and the women's to some extent) you see a group of guys and girls who clearly have that inner drive and belief that they can win and be the best, irrespective of what the crowd, press, or fans think.  Heck, even his ex-girlfriend has that self-belief.  Which is...kinda weird.