MELBOURNE, Australia — It was a moment that not every loser would have chosen to revisit: a marathon versus Rafael Nadal in 2009 that could have put Fernando Verdasco in the final of the Australian Open.
Back then, it was not to be, as Nadal grittily prevailed 6-4 in the fifth set in that semifinal after 5 hours and 14 minutes.
That magnificent match has in many ways defined Verdasco’s close-but-no-Cohiba career. Yet he has not shied from it, not shied from learning from it or from watching it, repeatedly.
“Maybe 10 times,” he said.