When Fernando Verdasco made his ATP debut at the 2002 Estoril Open, America’s Ernesto Escobedo was just six-year-old. 15 years later the two men find themselves making headlines at this year’s U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston.
Fifth seed Verdasco, who won the Houston title in 2014, came through a tough 7-6(4), 7-6(4), match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson. The tight two-hour encounter saw both men drop serve only once as Verdasco fended off a duo of set points in the opening set. Eventually the Spaniard prevailed with the help of a 72% winning service rate (compared to Anderson’s 68%).
“It was a really complicated, tough first round,” said Verdasco, who will play Nicolas Kicker in the second round. “He has one of the best serves on tour. Even if he’s on clay he’s super tough to return… I feel lucky that I’ve been able to win both tie-breaks.”
Currently ranked 31st in the world at the age of 33, Verdasco is showing no signs of slowing down with more players playing into their mid-thirties. Since his Houston triumph in 2014, he has only managed to win one title on the tour (Bucharest 2016). Still, with wins over Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka last year, Verdasco believes he can still play amongst the world’s best.
“I still feel I can win the big matches,” he stated.
Learning from the veterans
Joining Verdasco in the second round will be 20-year-old Escobedo. The wildcard entrant claimed 83% of his first service points as he dismissed Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 6-3, in just 77 minutes. Clinching his maiden ATP main draw win on the clay, It is the latest confidence for the rising star, who broke the top-100 earlier this year.
“Because I feel with my game style, I could do pretty good on the clay, just because I play super aggressive with a lot of spin,” Chron.com quoted Escobedo as saying. “So I just have to adapt to it.”
Along with a surge up the ranking, is also a growing maturity for the player of Mexican heritage. Last year he claimed a duo of Challenger titles on the hard-courts. On the clay, he also reached the final of the 2016 ATP Sao Paulo Challenger to illustrate his talent on more than one surface. There is a sharp contrast in playing on a hard-court compared to the clay. Regardless of the difference, Escobedo knows how to tackle the surfaces.
“You just have to be mentally tough,” he said. “On the hard court, it’s a different game. I could play a lot of shorter points. On the clay, there’s longer rallies. Sometimes it takes another shot, four or five more shots, to win the point.”
Escobedo will next play Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, who knocked out seventh seed Donald Young 6-3, 6-4.
Elsewhere at the tournament, there were mixed fortunes for other rising stars in the men’s game. 20-year-old South Korean talent Hyeon Chung outlasted Victor Estrella Burgos 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Eighth seed Thomaz Bellucci dismissed Francais Tiafoe 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. Finally, Feliciano Lopez defeated Bjorn Fratangelo 7-5, 6-4.
