Verdasco: I am happy in Belgrade
Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco achieved a new triumph at Belgrade Open and secured a place in the quarter-finals.
He bested French player Adrian Mannarino with 2-0, with 7:6(4), 6:0 in sets.
Firstly, he talked about what his current top priorities were.
“It’s important that I’m travelling with my family, otherwise everything would be more difficult at my age. I have two children now, a two year old and a five month old, and it would be difficult for me not to be with them. They travel with me, we’re together all the time, that’s the most important thing in the world for me,” said the 37-year old Spanish player.
He’s been dealing with a knee injury for a long time.
“I want to keep playing, to keep training hard, and to do that, I need to get rid of the pain in my knee. That’s why I had surgery last year. In the last ten days, I had no pain, I could train at the gym and compete. I had the attitude that I could win. That is victory for me, to play without pain. This is a good moment to reset and renew my career,” said the 107th best player on the planet.
His next opponent will be Alex Molcan from Slovakia, who did not play at ATP tournaments before Belgrade Open.
“I’ve been in situations like that many times. You only need to play your own game. Sometimes you play with players you know, sometimes with those you don’t. You’re trying to see him somehow, to talk with someone who knows him, to get information. I’ve been in the tour for a long time, I played against all kinds of opponents and I just want to enjoy the moment while my knee doesn’t hurt,” Verdasco noted.
On friendship with Serbian players.
“Novak is a very good friend of mine, we used to be together all the time before. We had common friends, he was always calling me to come to Belgrade. I also have good relations with other Serbian tennis players – Janko, Zimonjić, Lajović… It’s good to have good relations with players, they’re like family, a big part of your life, you see them week after week. I’m glad to be in Belgrade. Novak called me to come last year, but I was prevented by my knee injury,” he concluded.