Rafael Nadal v Fernando Verdasco Extended Highlights | Australian Open 2009 Semifinal 

Djoker beat Murray in a 5h match in 2012, and then went on to beat prime Nadal in the final

I think the extra day rest didn't help Federer at all, epecially his serve.

@@dzyba we're talking about nadal here

​@@dzyba so?

@@dzybaWe don’t care about Djokovic.

Verdasco was on fire and so hot!!!!

Outstanding match. Verdasco was such an interesting matchup against Nadal, especially given his enormous power and for being left handed. But Nadal carried into this tournament his 2008 RG-Wimbledon form, which is one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen on any sport. His outfit was also pretty cool.

Federer - Djokovic 2011 RG Semifinal entered the room.

@@transtaganas indeed, altho verdasco got revenge on round 1 in 2016. Nadal had no defense on him and you can see how as the years have gone by this part of his game has been the key to success.

This is one of those few times when a lower ranked player really took it to the big 3 and it’s not because the big 3 player was having an off day, it’s just that Verdasco raised his level that high. I think Verdasco had a few slams in him with a better mental game

Nah. 2012 AO was no doubt a more difficult path for Djokovic. Beating peak Murray and prime Nadal back to back is about as hard as it gets.

So you are saying AO12 Murray was at a much better level than AO09 Verdasco? Lol c'mon. And now is tougher to face Nadal on HC in 2012 than Federer in 2009...? Federer is arguably the 2nd best HC player of all time. He was dominating hard courts back then and nobody could beat him in a HC GS final. Djokovic had beaten Nadal just 4 months earlier at the 2011 US Open...

@@rafagoat575 Nada was in amazinng form both physically and teckinically...but you should know that AO speed court from 2008 to 2012 is a clay hardcourt that is what allowed Nadal who was in peak physical form to run around wide balls make speactacular winners and always put ball back into play...and STILL he should have lost eiher by Verdasco or Federer the only reason it got so close is even though the court was so slow the ball bounce was still low...RAFA fans must accept that RAFA dominated only clay tournaments and nothing else if hardcourts where always fast like these days Nadal would never have any major title outside clay..US open is basically the 2nd clay slam of the year..court is slow as hell with high bounce and ALL 4 US opens Nadal won conditions where even slower than clay...For eample UUS OPEN 2011-AO 012 court speeds where even slower than clay the only difference is AO is low bounce (witch does not allowed Nadal activate his pusher tactics) and Us Open is high bounce witch suits perfectly Nadal pusher game and STILL even in clay harcourt condition Novak beat him in both of these occasions...Nadal can never be the GOAT of tennis not even close and no amount of clay titles can change that both Novak and Federer surprass him by far in all stats...weeks at number 1 and amount of overall titles except clay of course it is not even close...AO 019 was the faster court ever even faster than Wimbledon and Novak beat Nadal like a kid...have you ever wondered why Nadal has 0 titles in Paris Masters and ATP Finals? because these courts are fast as hell with low bounce

@@dimitrissle6508 So, by your amzing logic Djokovic's 7 Wimbledon titles have no merit, because the grass was sped down drastically in the early 2000s... to the point that HC and Grass CPI are practically the same lol plus he only started beating Federer there when the Swiss was 34+ years old. Nadal is the only player who won Wimbledon beating Federer in his prime. And yeah, in AO19 Djokovic beat Rafa like a kid... it wasn't that big of a beat down as the one months later in RG tho lol when Ivanisevic said Rafa had no chance because everything favored Djokovic, the dump clay making it low bounce, the cold weather, the balls... even the roof in the last minute... and then 60 62 75. By the way... in AO19 Nadal was coming back from an injury, nobody expected much from him and he made the final. Not bad. Go ahead and check how Djokovic has done in his career coming back from injuries in 2018 or even after the AO saga in 2021... you'll be surprised.

@@rafagoat575 What bullshit is this RAFA Fans keep ignoring the facts? ? are you dRUNK? Nadal only beat Federer once in a medium fast Wimbledon 2008 final when Federer had weak backand..since 2011 onwards the court changed and became way faster and Roger improved his weak backand since 2014 by also changing to larger headsize racket and improvig his backand technique a lot so 32-35 year old Feder played much better on grass compare to 2008 Federer lol...Novak beat prime Federer on Wimbledon 3 times and in 2015 Wimbledon he almost straghit setted highest level of Fderer on grass so just image what 2015 Wimbledon Djokovic would do to 08 Wimbledon Nadal oxaxaxax the outcome would be simillar to their Wimbledon 2011 final encounter maybe Nadal would lose even more badly heheh 2011 Nadal played at much higher level compared to his 08 wimbledon performance..his shots where simillar but in 2011 he had way stronger serve......ALSO why you mention clay as an argument? Everyone agrre that Nadal is unbeatable on clay but I ALREADY SAID that NO AMOUNT OF CLAY TITLES CAN MAKE NADAL THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME! but since you mention the 2020 RG fianal what yuou have to say about 2021 RG Semifinal..Nadal can not even beat Novak consistently even on clay ! axaxa But after 2013 Novak did not even lose a set from Nadal on fast hardcourts after 15 encounters just image ! Nadal has not even won a set from Novak on hard courts for the last 11 years ! just look at the stats ! WHY NOT just accept facts? Nadal is only good on slow high bounce surface and Feder-Novak dominate Nadal on fast low bounce surfaces a good xample is the 2011 wimbledon final when Novak desotroyed Nadal in 4 sets and also 2014 Wimbledon final where the court speed was the fastest ever...Just check the court speed and ball bounce before you start an argument...Nadal dominated only slow high bounce surfaces and these type surfaces allow onloy pushers to win...no skill at all

Verdasco was on fire and so hot!!!!

And in history of tennis.

This match's legacy and quality transcend decades.... Not just 2009

One of the best tennis matches ever

@@user-nx5mh8kp4e that's right

Agreed

Verdasco was on fire and so hot!!!!

Without a doubt.

Two of the best points in tennis history and they came in the same match. Two days later, Nadal and Federer played possibly the best point in tennis history as well in the 4th set

​@@SJ-di5zuin AO 2017, Roger Rafa played another epic epic point but this time Roger won it. Almost similar finish to the point like in 2009.

Meddy vs nadal 2022 Fed vs nadal 2017

@@muhammadsaadgodil9389 Nadal vs Dimitrov 2017 tho

Murray vs. Djokovic 2012 semis was one of the best as well.

Stan vs Novak 2013 Andy vs Novak 2012 Stan vs Novak 2014 There are too many to choose

​@@M.L.officialbut the above mentioned are greater than these

This 2009 Rafa would topple 2011, 2019 or 2015 novak

This was Nadal at his absolute best: against Federer he was definitely much less accurate and powerful as Roger had the upper hand until he ran out of gas in the 5th set; otherwise Roger should have won in 4 as he completely destroyed Nadal

from memory that guy in the audience was verdasco's best mate that had flown over from spain, not a coach or anything just the ultimate hype man

Verdasco was on fire and so hot!!!!

If not for the abysmal 5th set, the final would have eclipsed this.

@@jacobschmidt2709 final had better shot-making

Nadal was shit in 2016 lol

@@rafagoat575 I was rooting for Verdasco, I think he deserves a better highlights video for his performance

Don't forget the 4 hr Madrid Semi final against Novak

It's normal, he was 22 and now 37. He started to lose speed after 2014.

@@AlejandroGarcia-wz1qi You`re wrong. He didn`t lose speed at all. Moya stated in an interview that he had to teach Rafa to stop chasing every damn ball to preserve his energy for longer matches given his injuries.

@@K1ll3rInstinct oh come on bro. To say he hasn't lost half a step of pace in his late 30s is ridiculous. He was definitely faster at 22!

But... He's 38 and still fighting, winning RG at 36 against Novak is maybe his greatest achieve in France.

still thank you, a memory relieved

Absolutely no chance (no disrespect), even if Verdasco managed to win he would have had absolutely nothing left physically and Federer would have obliterated him in the final, with only 1 day of rest. Roger was 7-0 against Verdasco in his career, he never had any problems against him. This shows how fit Nadal was, winning against Federer in the final.

He would still get rocked by the goat 🐐

@@M.L.officialwith this level, probably not. Nadal, though Djokovic was insane that day, played really poorly. Nadal with a similar level three years later narrowly lost to Djokovic at AO when both were in their primes so to speak

@@Divvy21 you are out of your mind if you think Novak would struggle against nadal on hard courts. Nadal hasn't taken a set off on hard court since 2013.

@@M.L.official dude, I’m talking about this version of nadal on hc. Prime nadal was pretty good against prime Djokovic on HC. Yes, Novak has dominated nadal on hc in the last 10 years, but we saw in AO 2012 how both players playing very well ended up being the longest grand slam final in tennis. Nadal at his peak could challenge anyone on any surface. Ao 2009, USO 2010, USO 2011, AO 2012, USO 2013, and AO 2014 (till the final) were probably his best forms in HC slams

@@M.L.official in ur dreams

Irrelevant here