Memories from a quarter-century-long career came flooding into his mind as Spain's Fernando Verdasco wound up his career at the Qatar Open in Doha with Serbia's Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic clapping just a few feet away.
Fernando Verdasco, winner of seven singles and eight doubles titles and more than $18 million dollars in career prize money, on Wednesday winded up his 'satisfying' tennis career following a loss in the doubles of the Qatar Open where he had signed up Djokovic as his partner.
It's hard to see one memory when you have been on the Tour for 25 years. I became professional in 2001, so 24, 25 years now, I don't know, I (have) lost the count.
Obviously there are so many memories, some good, some bad. Special memories (include) the Davis Cup titles with my country, the title in Barcelona in 2010. I had amazing victories in my career with the best players in history. Actually, the only one that I couldn't beat was Roger Federer. We indeed played each other fewer times, I played less than with the rest of the Immortals, as we call them:
On Wednesday, Verdasco and Djokovic lost to Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in the men's doubles competition of the Qatar Open. The second seeds earned a 7-5, 6-4 victory in Doha, bringing an end to Verdasco’s storied 25-year career.
The match ended with Verdasco and Djokovic sharing a hug, a moment that symbolized the respect and camaraderie between the two athletes. Verdasco then took a moment to acknowledge the crowd, soaking in the cheers and applause as he bid farewell to his professional tennis career.
Verdasco, winner of seven singles and eight doubles titles and more than 18 million dollars in career prize money, on Wednesday, wound up his 'satisfying' tennis career following a loss in the doubles of the Qatar Open where he had signed up Djokovic as his partner.
The 41-year-old, who turned pro in 2001, posted wins over Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray among many others.
At the end, beating Rafa, beating Novak, beating Murray, beating all these kinds of players during my career, they were like the biggest victories that I had. And the biggest victories are that I (will) take with me forever.
It's actually really nice to have this last official tournament because as I said a couple of days ago, I had already decided to not play anymore after not playing Madrid and Barcelona last year. Then, all of a sudden, this opportunity came out at the end of last year and it was for me like a present, to be able to play with Novak and in Doha, where I've been living for the last 10 years.
I don't know who said a few days ago that Alcaraz and Sinner are like Roger and Rafa. I think it was Novak (who said it). They are the two biggest guys now, above the rest (of the players). They are really young, they're one and two in the world. You can see them a bit above the rest, and you can see that they are the guys that will be more likely fighting for the big titles over and over again.
At the moment they are the two guys that will be fighting over and over for every Grand Slam. There are great players like Stefanos, Medvedev, Rublev ... all these guys have been there for a few more years than Sinner and Alcaraz.
You can see that these two guys are made of something a bit different. It's kind of like Roger, Rafa, and Novak, you could see back in the day that those guys were a bit different from the rest. That's why they were winning all the big titles, Grand Slams, and Masters. I love the way they both play. I have a good relationship with both.
Verdasco said it's tough to say whether Alcaraz would break Nadal's tally of 22 Grand Slam titles.
Fans always ask me, 'Do you think Alcaraz is going to win the same number of Grand Slams as Nadal (did)?'. I'm like, 'listen, what I can say is that it's almost impossible, because actually to win 22 Grand Slams, you don't need to be so smart, it's just that you have to be winning like two, three Grand Slams every year for so many years. As soon as you have surgery or maybe a physical problem, it makes it almost impossible (to go for the record). I see a long way to get there but who knows?
I think 20 years ago if you asked me (whether) Djokovic is going to have 24 Grand Slams and Rafa 22, I would have said 'no chance, impossible'. But they have it. So I think in sports the records are there to be broken and someone always comes to break them (the record). I hope that Alcaraz, as a Spanish player, can be on top for many years. He's a good friend. I actually was talking to him yesterday trying to convince him to come to Doha, to live in Doha with me, in Qatar, so then we can share things here and enjoy life.
I said the same to Joselu, the football player from Real Madrid, that he comes to play here and we can be together all day. Carlos also obviously loves Real Madrid. And he's a good friend of Joselu as well. So we, Joselu and I, are trying to convince him to come and live in Doha with us.
