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Fernando Verdasco’s stunning charge to a maiden Grand Slam semi-final appearance has come, to many, as a surprise. But should it surprise us that a relative outsider has chosen the year’s first major to launch himself from obscurity into the forefront of the men’s game?
The answer is no.
A quick glance at the Open’s contemporary honor roll aptly illustrates that an Open bolter is not just a frequent occurrence, but a downright certainty.
Although picking a given year’s bolter may be as difficult as enduring one of Alicia Molik’s courtside ‘interviews’, there is no doubt a ‘sleeper’ lurks quietly in every Open draw.
But is this simply co-incidence? Or is there a more logical, scientific justification to this frequent irrelegularity?
I tend to side with the latter.
I’m not naïve enough to suggest there is one, concrete reason as to why each of these ‘bolters’ have enjoyed such success. But I will suggest that the stunning Open runs of Arnaud Clement, Rainer Schuttler, Marcos Baghdatis and now, of course, Verdasco, have all been underlined by a similar constant: preparation.
It may sound obvious, and it is, but preparation, now more so than ever, has become an essential ingredient for success.
The manner in which the tennis calendar is structured, players are reasonably expected to be competitively fit for 52 weeks a year. Unlike cycling, football or cricket, there is no ‘lull’ or ‘peak’ periods.
This is no more evident than at the Australian Open.
Year upon year, players – usually those who spent the Christmas period in temperate European climates – drastically, and publicly, fall apart. There is nothing to suggest Victoria Azarenka was an inferior tennis player to Serena Williams the day she lost her third round clash.
Likewise, Novak Djokovic won’t leave Melbourne Park lamenting a frail forehand or a miss-firing serve.
So back to the ‘bolter’.
Glance over the ‘holiday’ routine of Verdasco and company, and be assured there is nothing temperate or mild about it. It probably comes as no surprise that Agassi’s strength and conditioning coach during his years at the top – Gilles Reyes – spent three weeks working with Verdasco in the searing Miami heat prior to this year’s Open.
It is rumored that Verdasco spent his Christmas day enduring a rigorous 4 hour fitness session. Take note Novak.
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