QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 17, 2025

Fernando Verdasco

Press Conference

DJOKOVIC-VERDASCO/Bublik-Khachano

6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Fernando, I would like to just open with the emotions you're feeling this week, special tournament, obviously, for you, so just take us through the kind of emotions you're going through right now.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, obviously I'm so happy to be here. I already said it when I made the announcement of playing here my last tournament in doubles with Novak Djokovic. Obviously we spoke about it a few months ago, but after what happened in Australia, we had to wait until the last moment to decide if we were finally playing or not.

So, yeah, we were always in touch, and he was always giving me good news that he was recovering well and he was thinking that he was going to be ready to play. So, I was very happy, and as soon as he arrived here we practiced together and we did the announcement.

Obviously the emotions are, like, very big. You know, like after being for a year and a half out of the competition, actually, I was not even thinking of making an official announcement or playing for one last time until I spoke with him. Obviously now I'm so happy to make it possible here in Doha. As everybody knows, I'm living here for 10 years now, so this feels like my house, like my home. And there is no better way to retire in my home, with all my family, with my friends, and with, you know, with someone like Novak Djokovic that, obviously, in the matter of numbers, he's the best player in history of tennis and, like I said, one of the best athletes in history as well.

So, today I enjoyed so much the time on court with him, and obviously I'm so happy to be able to win and to have another chance to play together again.

For one moment we were talking like maybe I should announce my retirement after winning the match, so then I go to retirement with a victory. Obviously it was only a joke, and I'm so happy to be able to play at least one more time with him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You won seven career titles in singles and reached a career high of number 7, those are obviously great achievements. Is there one achievement in tennis you're most proud of, and do you have a specific one that you are most proud of?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, the biggest one I think is Davis Cup for my country, that I won three times. Maybe from these three the most special one is the one in Argentina, when I won the fourth point of the finals against Acasuso, and I gave my country the victory of that Davis Cup.

A part of me winning the last point, because actually next year in 2009 with Feliciano in the finals we won against Stepanek and Berdych in the doubles, and that was also the last point of the final. But in Spain they were expecting us to win, in Argentina, no. In Argentina everybody killed us, actually, before playing, because Nalbandian and Del Porto, they were top-10 players, and Rafa wasn't on the team. So in the end it felt much better, it felt like unbelievable, to be honest.

Obviously, as an individual tournament, it was Barcelona in 2010 when I beat Soderling in the finals. Obviously in a place like Barcelona, that it was my club when I was, actually only I think for one year when I was 15 years old and I was practicing in Barcelona. But also being able to win the tournament there in 2010, after watching that tournament since I was a kid, it made it super special.

Q. How is it today to play without any pressure, something that I think you weren't able to do so often during your career?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Oh, I didn't understand.

Q. Without any pressure today.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I mean, there is always pressure, but obviously in this occasion I think I should look at this opportunity or this tournament as something different, no, of anything before. At the end I was obviously more a singles players than a doubles player, even if I did really good things in doubles as well, like winning in the Masters in London with Marrero in 2013.

But obviously now, like to play with Novak, that I know him since the beginning of my career and his career, always having a great relationship with him, being one of the biggest, my biggest rivals over the last 20 years, you know. At the end the guy that I played more in my career was Rafa, then it was Andy, then Novak, just one match less, and then Roger. So, obviously, like, Rafa is retired, Roger is retired, Murray is retired, so obviously Novak was the one that I felt like we share more things during 20 years.

Like I said, we had always an unbelievable relationship, no matter what, and I think it was the person for me to play my last time, and enjoy like to play together. Whatever happens, happens. I'm already so happy, like I said, to be able to play with him, to play in Doha, that is my home. Then today we won, and we played really good, to be honest. I wasn't expecting, not him, for him obviously I expected everything, but more for me to play like this after one year and a half. Obviously, I'm really happy to be able to win the match today, the way we played. And like I said, happy to be able to play one more match together on Wednesday or Thursday or whenever we have to play again.

Q. You are still in this tournament, so please forgive me to ask you about your retirement plan. Are you planning to be a coach or something, or running your academy or something?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, right now I don't know exactly what I will do. I just know one thing that I will do, and it's playing, I'm going to be playing the Legends Team Cup, it's starting this year. I actually decided to join a couple weeks ago, and I'm really happy to be part of it. There are going to be great players, you know, playing.

I can tell you, I don't know if you heard about it. You heard about the Legends Team Cup or no? No? Okay. So it's going to be like a format same as the Laver Cup, with retired tennis players, all less than 44 or less. So Diego Schwartzman is going to be joining, Dominic Thiem, David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Feliciano Lopez, Robredo, Tommy Haas, Stepanek, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan. So, I mean, I'm forgetting Nalbandian. It's going to be 18 players, it's going to be three captains, and then I think it's going to be seven venues and then a Masters. So, obviously I'm so happy to be part of it.

So, I feel like I'm retiring, but not fully, you know. I will keep playing, actually, something that is going to be real. It's not going to be like an exhibition, it's going to be like a competition. So, I have to keep myself in shape, and then, you know, keep feeling like you are still a player. You are not, obviously, a professional tennis player, but you are a player and you have to be playing for your team and trying to win. So, yeah I'm so happy to be part of the Legends Team Cup after this tournament.

And then a part of that, about coaching, I don't know. Like, obviously I enjoyed my time last year with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for 10 weeks, with Abdullah Shelbayh as well for another 10 weeks more or less, with Ons Jabeur for another three, four weeks.

But I don't know. Like, to be honest, I'm not that ready to be traveling so many weeks, you know. Actually, Alex Davidovich said in Australia that we couldn't find a way to work together, because he felt that he need someone for a lot of weeks, 20 weeks, 25 weeks. I couldn't travel 25 weeks, you know. I have three young kids, and one of them is only nine months. So, for me to be 25 weeks away from Doha when they are in school is, it's so hard, it's impossible, after being 25 years traveling all the world.

So, I just want to be enjoying my family, and obviously if I can, I love actually the fact to be a coach, and to help, because it's a world that I have been for all my life. So, if I find a way to do it in the way that I'm comfortable and in the way that some player is comfortable, I would love to do it.

At the moment I'm more thinking of the Legends Team Cup, and then see other options. Obviously I'm seeing, we are, we have in the horizon here, in Doha, you know, like to do, because I obviously love this place, I want to stay here for a long time. It's not like I just want to go back home, back to Spain, once I retire. I want to be here for few more years or as many years as possible. So, I'm looking for other things to stay here and to be for many years living here.

Q. Amazing career. Still I cannot forget your match 2009 against Nadal. My question, after you retire, what is the most thing you are happy you will not do after retire?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: What is the thing? I'm not going to do what?

Q. The most thing you are happy you will not do it again after the retiring.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I don't know.

Q. Like practicing, wake up early morning.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: No, like what I will do, I will not do?

Q. You will not do it again.

FERNANDO VERDASCO: No, like, obviously, like, to be honest, nothing. I love the way, I love the life of a player and what I was doing. Actually, like, now here in Doha everything is earlier than in Spain. School starts 7:30 in the morning, so I have to be up at 6:30 with my kids. I love to take them to school every day.

So, for me, actually, I just leave them at the school at 7:30, 7:45, and I love to go straight to work out, you know, to go to the gym, to go to the court. Actually, now I'm practicing earlier than when I was 7, 10, 15 in the world, you know. I was practicing more at 10, 11, and sleeping more. I think I'm becoming older, so as I'm becoming older I'm sleeping less.

Here in Doha you do everything earlier. I go to sleep 8:30, 9 p.m. In Spain I was going to sleep at midnight, and then I wake up very early. So, actually, it's kind of like the same.

Like I said, being part of the Legends Team Cup, I have to keep practicing, I have to keep being in shape to try to give as many points for my team, once we start competing this year. So, it's going to be kind of like the same life I was having for the last 25 years, just a little bit more relaxed, you know, but the rest, yeah.

Q. (Question off microphone.)

FERNANDO VERDASCO: You have pressure, because obviously I would like to win, you know, it's going to be with prize money, so obviously if you win, you win more money, so then I would like to win. Obviously it's going to be nice for me and for my team to win the Legends Team Cup at the end of the year, so obviously I will, like, I will keep practicing, I will keep doing everything as good as possible. But obviously it's not, you can not put yourself the same pressure with 40, 42, 43 years old that when you were 20, 25.

Q. I know that you are living here in Doha for so many years, but didn't you think that you could finish your career in Spain, like Rafa Nadal did in Malaga?

FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I mean, to be honest, at the beginning, my mentality was to retire in Madrid. My city is Madrid. I born in Madrid. Obviously, in my mind, my first thought was to retire in Madrid last year. I spoke with Feliciano Lopez to try to make it happen there, but IMG decided to give the wild cards to the IMG players, what obviously didn't give me an option to retire there.

Then after that I was thinking Barcelona, because like I said before, it was my club, I won the title in 2010, and it was like, after Madrid, it was the tournament with more tradition in Spain. It was actually before Madrid. When I was 15 years old I remember watching Marat Safin beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the finals there. And Madrid didn't exist by that moment, you know.

So, obviously it was Madrid, then it was Barcelona. But then Barcelona as well, they said that they wanted to give it to another players that were injured, and other reasons. You know, for me at the end I said, Okay, fine. It's fine.

So, that was last year in April, May. After that, like I said, I was like, Okay, I don't play any more. Like, I'm fine, I don't need it, you know?

But then actually like speaking with Novak here in November, December, we were talking about it. We were, like, You didn't officially announce your retirement. I said, I know. It happened this in Madrid, this in Barcelona, so at the end I didn't retire.

Then he was like, And you don't want to retire? You know, play one last time, the last dance? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I see myself like practicing for like two, three months, hard, to just play maybe one match in singles, you know. I'm like, I don't know if I'm so motivated for that.

But then I was thinking that, you know, like, but maybe doubles (laughing), maybe doubles. And here in Doha, that I live here, it would be like a nice idea, you know, it would be like a really nice way to do it.

And he told me from first moment, he said, Like if you want me to, if you want me to play together, I'm in. So I said like, Okay, if you are in, I'm more than in. So, then we just said, Okay, done, at last, let's do it.

Yeah, you know, obviously after Australia I was a bit afraid, with his muscle tear, but he was always confident that he was going to recover in time. We were always talking, you know, I was always asking him, How are you feeling? We always call each other guapo. Guapo, guapito. And I was like, How are you guapo? Very good, guapo. I'm here, this, that. So we always had that nickname, like funny nickname.

Yeah, I'm so happy that he recovered in time to play the tournament in singles, and to play with me in doubles. And, yeah, for me, it's to be honest, it's the perfect way to retire.