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SPORTS A17
Wednesday 20 January 2016

Resurgent Venus Stopped in 1st Round at Australian Open
Page 18

Silencer

Fernando Verdasco of Spain hits a forehand returnduring his first round match against compatriot Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open tennis championships in Mel-
bourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016.

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Verdasco Shocks Nadal in Round 1 of Australian Open

JOHN PYE netted him 14 major titles. 135-ranked Steve Darcis of Halep, the 2014 French worked to the extremes
AP Sports Writer Nadal won his only Aus- Belgium. “It’s a hard and Open finalist, lost 6-4, 6-3 to to unsettle his former No.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) tralian title in 2009 after painful loss,” Nadal said. Zhang Shuai, giving the No. 1-ranked rival.
— For five sets and nearly overcoming Verdasco in “He was playing amazing in 133-ranked Chinese quali- “To win against Rafa here
five hours, two chiseled a 5-hour, 14-minute semifi- the last set ... more aggres- fier her first win at a Grand coming from two sets down
Spanish left-handers went nal, a match that still ranks sive than me. He took more Slam after 14 losses. is unbelievable,” the No.
head-to-head again at the among the classics at risks than me, and he won. “It’s OK. I don’t want to 45-ranked Verdasco said.
Australian Open. Melbourne Park. This time, Probably he deserved.” make this match like dra- “I think I played unbeliev-
It wasn’t a semifinal this Verdasco rallied from a No. 2 Simona Halep and matic,” said Halep, who re- able — the fifth set from the
time, though, and It didn’t 2-1 deficit to win the last seven-time Grand Slam fused to blame an Achilles break that he made me, I
end nearly as well for Ra- two sets, and came from winner Venus Williams also tendon problem for con- just started hitting winners.
fael Nadal, who lost 7-6 (6), a break down in the fifth went out in the first round tributing to her third first- I don’t know how, just, you
4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Fer- to win in 4:41 and reach on Tuesday, when a series round loss in five years at know I was closing the eyes
nando Verdasco and was the second round. Nadal’s of upsets took some focus Melbourne Park. and everything was com-
eliminated in the first round only previous first-round off a match-fixing contro- Verdasco went for every- ing in and I keep doing it
of a Grand Slam tourna- exit in a Grand Slam was at versy that had overshad- thing on his ground strokes, and I was doing well.”
ment for only the second Wimbledon in 2013, when owed the first day of the ripping 90 winners against
time in a career that has he lost in straight sets to No. season’s first major. only 37 for Nadal as he Continued on page 18