Fernando Verdasco hires new coach ahead of 2019 season
The 35-year-old Fernando Verdasco is currently the third oldest Top 100 player behind Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez but he is still capable of pulling some good results on the Tour, finishing inside the Top 30 after winning 33 matches in 2018. A left-handed Spaniard is preparing for the new season at home in Doha and he will kick off 2019 with the new coaching staff, ending his third stint with Nacho Truyol to appoint Joaquin "Quino" Munoz Hernandez as his new coach. Diego Dinomo (he worked with Andrea Hlavackova and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the past) and the physio Chema Castillo will also be in his squad for 2019, helping him to stay competitive and to chase the first ATP crown since Bucharest 2016.
Quino Munoz is a Madrid native, just like Fernando, and he only recently ended his playing career at the age of 43, finishing 2017 as one of the oldest players in the world who has managed to win a professional match. He had played his last tournament in April last year and he officially retired now to embrace the new role and start his coaching journey with a former world number 7. Munoz had his best ranking 20 years ago when he reached the Top 160, never having a chance to play in the main draw of Grand Slam or Masters 1000 event, reaching the third round in Barcelona in 1998 and winning four ATP matches overall.
He had reached two Challenger finals in Budapest in 1997 and 2002 and claimed one Futures title back in 2001. Verdasco has won seven ATP titles so far from 23 finals and he has been one of the most consistent players over the course of the last 15 years, entering the Top 100 in March 2004 and never leaving that group again to rattle off 770 consecutive weeks in the elite, good enough for the fifth best active result behind Roger Federer, Feliciano Lopez, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. The Spaniard will kick off the season in Doha where he barely missed a chance to play in the final, wasting five match points against Novak Djokovic in the semis.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ALZgH5
No comments