Red Meat

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By TennisWorld Contributing Editor Andrew Burton

Evening, all.

It's one of the great cliches of nature television - the great lion (actually, it's usually a lioness, but we're talking the ATP here) stalks its prey, then streaks after the gazelle.  The animal twists and turns, but it's caught, pinned to the ground and....

Welcome to Richard Gasquet's afternoon.

I've heard tennis players grunt, exclaim, shriek and swear.  Until this afternoon, I don't remember hearing them snarl.  Fernando Verdasco is currently one of the hottest players on the tour (jb, Susan, Jackie and vetmama who were watching in the stands may wish to concur on this score), but until now he's never seemed to have a strong killer instinct.  Today, Verdasco laid into winners with a "Haa-aah!" sound, and although Gasquet cooperated in his own demise, it was a killing, not a suicide.

I last saw Verdasco play Robin Soderling on court 2 in Toronto.  You can read Ed McGrogan's description of the match here: at the time, it struck me as a classic WWI trench fight, with both players trying more not to lose than to win.  Ed describes Verdasco's groundstrokes in that match as "relatively powerless," which seems right to me.

Gasquet lost his first service game today at 15, and he wasn't facing an opponent hitting powerless defensive shots.  Verdasco seemed to play the entire match as if he'd been told that a bomb would go off if he stepped six feet behind the baseline.  He took everything early, and finished points quickly - not blasting the ball, but hitting his shots on an irresistible trajectory, low over the net, lots of topspin, deep in the corners.  He seemed to have speeded up his game by about 15% in six months.  Gasquet looked for all the world like a young man in a stag party who's been cajoled into riding a mechanical bull.

There were two moments when the players went off script.  At 0-30 3-5, Verdasco was sprinting to the ad side of the court, inadvertently stepped on his racquet, and did a 2 1/2 somersault with a twist, degree of difficulty 6.8.  After he dusted himself down, he broke Gasquet for the second time in the set, and let loose a triumphant "Haa-aah!"

Then at 1-1, a lapse in concentration allowed Gasquet to manufacture his own break of serve.  If I was staying with my African savannah metaphor I'd maybe write about the gazelle scenting freedom, but to the best of my knowledge gazelles don't double fault three times in a consolidation game.  The hapless Gasquet did, though, and tamely surrendered the break back with a weak drop volley.

There was only one winner after that - in fact Gasquet didn't win another game.  The two men appear to be traveling in opposite directions.  Two years ago Gasquet still looked like a potential contender. He was overwhelmed today.  Verdasco, meanwhile, finished with one last snarl, then shook hands and accepted the ecstatic applause.  He turned and faced each of the stands, gave a little bow, then looked over at his coaching staff and gestured his thanks.  I didn't see what Darren Cahill did in return, but I can't imagine he was displeased with what he'd just seen.

If there's anyone still lamenting the fact that Cahill and Roger Federer aren't going to work together, don't tell Fernando Verdasco.  He might just bite your head off.