SAN JOSE, CALIF. — The mere mention of sciatica is enough to produce goose flesh, to make the hair stand up on the back of most ATPers’ necks. They saw first-hand the pain that Andre Agassi experienced in his final days on the tour. All the cortisone shots, the endless hours on the trainer’s table, the on-court grimaces.
So you’ll forgive Fernando Verdasco if he’s a bit uneasy these days. Since beating Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga to win the eight-man Kooyong Classic exo in January, the Spaniard has been dealing with a sciatic nerve flare-up that’s left him with some hamstring discomfort in his right leg.
“It’s not like big pain,” said the 6-foot-2 Madrileño, who is unsure whether he’ll be available to play Davis Cup next month against Switzerland. “But it’s not nice, also, the feeling, no?”
He’s tried everything — acupuncture, pain meds, massage therapy, stretching.
“I’m doing all I can,” he said. “I cannot do anything else. I just hope that it’s going to be gone.”
The No. 11-ranked lefty, who trains in Las Vegas with Agassi confidante Gil Reyes, looked pain-free at the SAP Open on Friday as he took down 19-year-old Ricardas Berankis, the first Lithuanian-born player to reach an ATP quarterfinal, 6-3, 7-6(5).
Verdasco, who will next face Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the semis, played an integral role in leading Spain to back-to-back Davis Cup titles in ’08 and ’09. Under normal circumstances, Verdasco’s absence wouldn’t be too jarring for Spain’s captain, Albert Costa, who’s blessed with a deep talent pool from which to dip into. But he’ll likely be without Rafael Nadal, who’s nursing an injury of his own. Should Verdasco be unavailable, too, Costa will look to the likes of David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Robredo or J.C. Ferrero.
“Sometimes you are unable to play, and it’s important to have many good players,” said Verdasco, who recently switched rackets from the Tecnifibre TFight 320 VO2 Max to the new Yonex RDiS 200. “When someone is unable to play, the other one can replace them and play at the same level.”
Fortunately for Costa & Co., Switzerland will be playing without its biggest star, too, Roger Federer.
RODDICK EDGES BERDYCH 7-6(5), 7-6(5)
Joining Verdasco in the semifinal round is top-seed Andy Roddick, who stopped Tomas Berdych 7-6(5), 7-6(5), but not without a fight.
“It’s tough,” said Roddick, who was out-aced by the Czech 18-16. “He just hits the ball so hard and flat. It kind of keeps you a little bit off balance. Sometimes you just feel like you’re scraping and clawing and trying to hang on.”
Having come into the SAP with some uncertainty as to how a nagging nerve injury would affect his mobility, with each match the Texan continues to ramp up his game and, in his own words, “play himself into this tournament.”
Roddick got himself into some trouble in the second set. Serving at 1-all, he dug himself a hole at 15-40, before fighting off two break points to hold with a 135 mph ace. Berdych had another opportunity for a break with Roddick serving at 2-2, but the top-ranked American again worked his way out of a jam. Up 6-5 in the telltale tiebreaker, Roddick closed out the match with a 119 mph service winner that eluded his opponent.
“He does everything pretty well – hits a ton off both sides, moves well for someone 6-foot-5,” said Roddick, who improved to 5-2 lifetime against Berdych. “I feel like maybe he plays up and down to his competition a little bit.”
Roddick will next take on fellow American Sam Querrey, who closed out first-time ATP quarterfinalist Michael Russell 6-4, 6-3.
