Fernando Verdasco: It took me time to understand UTS rules

Former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco reveals he still hasn't fully recovered from his leg injury but it's getting better and he has to be careful. 

Verdasco, now ranked at No. 52 in the world, returned to competitive action last week at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown as he was making his first appearance since February.

The 36-year-old Spaniard accepted Patrick Mouratoglou's invitation to play at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, which takes place over weekends at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. 

“I had bone edema in my right leg. It took me a long time to recover. In fact, I am not 100% cured, although the pain is mostly gone. I can play even if I have to be very careful. I play and I see how my body reacts to the pain," Verdasco said, per We Love Tennis France.

Mouratoglou wanted to create something innovative so he created a list of specific rules for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, which are completely different to format used on the regular Tour events. 

Verdasco, who has been a professional for nearly two decades, accepted at the last moment to play in the second edition of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown and he admits he was having a bit of difficulties with all the new rules.

"At the beginning with my coach, I must admit that we did not understand anything. It took us a long time," Verdasco admitted.

"Everything can change in one second. You feel that the pressure is really building up and that you don't have the right to fail, that in the end the only thing that makes you fail is playing with the handbrake."

Verdasco started with a loss but then won his following match 

Verdasco clashed against Corentin Moutet in his opener at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown and the Frenchman won 19-13 13-16 12-16 16-13 3-1. 

But Verdasco played much better against Benoit Paire in his following match at the event as he beat the Frenchman 17-13 19-11 17-14 12-20.

After the first edition of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, Mouratoglou told Ubitennis: "The goal was to bring new people to tennis and I can say that 50% of our audience were previously not watching tennis. Secondly, we wanted to bring younger fans because the average age of a tennis fan is getting older. Our average age is 30-year-old."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2XeRvpp