Top seed Novak Djokovic, who needed two match points to beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and Roger Federer, who rolled over Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2 during their the Madrid Masters matches. With the exit of Nadal, Federer now has a chance to return to the ATP number two ranking if he can win the title, according to ATP calculations.
“It was a surprising loss for Rafa,” said the Swiss. “But Verdasco is a quality player who should have maybe beaten Nadal in the past. “Down two breaks in a match on clay you don’t expect a guy to come back. But the tournament goes on without Rafa.
“I did well today, playing clean tennis. Maybe I had some unforced errors when I went for shots, but the ball flies here. “I served well when I had to and played well on big points,” he said before facing Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer, who beat compatriot Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (10/8). Verdasco lost his second set as Nadal found his rhythm, but the 15th-seeded challenger rallied from 1-4 down in the third to work his upset miracle, winning his first match over the king of clay from 14 attempts.
The final set was littered with seven breaks of serve, with a nervous Nadal well off his game and expressing frustration with the surface which has drawn his ire for weeks. Verdasco applied the pressure in the final game to break Nadal and advance on his second match point, with the winner kissing the surface in gratitude.
“I couldn’t close out the match at 5-2. He played better than me,” said Nadal, by far the harshest critic of the experimental switch to blue clay.
“The ATP and the tournament can do what they want, I tried my best, I’ve trained since Thursday. I was as prepared as I could be.
“I was not good enough to adapt my game to this court. If things continue like this, it will be very sad.
