Verdasco Cruises Past Djokovic; Face Nadal In Final

© AFP/Getty ImagesFernando Verdasco will be looking to capture his second ATP World Tour title of the year, having clinched the SAP Open at San Jose in February.

Fernando Verdasco will look to record his first win and snap a nine-match losing streak against his Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal, the five-time defending champion, in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final on Sunday afternoon.

Appearing in his 56th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, sixth seed Verdasco reached his first final at this level by beating top seed and last year’s runner-up Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 33 minutes on an overcast afternoon in Monaco.

"I am so happy to be in the final," said Verdasco. "To beat a player like Djokovic, playing so good, with a score like it was important for me. I'm so happy to be in the final tomorrow against Nadal."

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Both players got off to a nervous start with Djokovic saving one break point in the first game and Verdasco saving two points from 15/40 in his first service game. Verdasco was gifted a 3-2 lead, when Djokovic recovered from 15/40 to deuce only to put a forehand wide and hit his first double fault of the match. The Madrid native wrapped up his second service break to love for a 5-2 lead, before clinching the set with a hold to 15 after 42 minutes of play.

Djokovic had committed 25 unforced errors and hit just five winners, when he was outplayed by Verdasco in the third game of the second set. Djokovic broke-back immediately to 15, when a nasty bounce on Court Central saw Verdasco miss-time a stroke. Undeterred, Verdasco lost four points to win the next four games and advance to his 11th ATP World Tour final (4-6 overall).

Monte-Carlo resident Djokovic, currently No. 2 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, had won the pair’s past five meetings and drops to an 18-5 match record on the season. Verdasco’s last win over Djokovic had come almost four years ago at Hamburg.

“This was quite a different performance,” admitted Djokovic, who has suffered from allergies for the past six weeks. “He played very good, but I think I made his win much easier because I made so much unforced errors.

“I wasn't moving well, I wasn't feeling well on the court. It's a bad day. But on the positive side, it's a semifinal. I have to consider this as a success and move on.”

Djokovic's loss to Verdasco was the second-fewest games he has won in a match in his career. His worst loss was three games in the 2005 Australian Open first round, when he fell to Marat Safin 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.                                                                                           

On Sunday, it will be the first all-Spanish final at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since Monte-Carlo in 2002 when Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Carlos Moya.