The heartbreaking story of Fernando GOATdasco

[Puppet Master]

Who knows how many times was this discussed but I just have to. Today he showed us again what he is capable of.
Let's analyse his game shall we: almost technically perfect forehand, unrivalled power off of both wings, a decent serve overall, very strong kick serve, can hit better volleys than a majority of the top 20, he can even return decently, in his prime years he was quite athletic for a guy his size ( he is like 1 cm taller than Djokovic) but he has slowed down a lot unsurprisingly. Who knows how many things I can mention in his favour but what does he have to show for it?
1 grand slam semifinal in 2009. That's it. He played one masters final which he lost to Rafa in 2010, ok who can blame him for that. But what the hell?
I know I know, the guy is a complete headcase, just like a few others that are also very, very talented ( prime example is Nalbandian, along with Fognini and Gulbis). But is he a headcase to that extent that he couldn't put his sh$t together for 2 weeks and have a slam in his pocket? I gave up on him officially in 2012 ( can't remember who he lost to though ) but he keeps reminding me again and again how troublesome he is for the top guys if he plays well. Heck, he took a set from Fed in 2015 Dubai and that was the closest anyone came to beating him there haha.
I noticed that, because he slowed down so much, he shouldn't bother with clay, but he can shine on grass and hard still.
Your thoughts?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Didn't he choke against Andy once in Wimby. That one was more pathetic. At least the 2009 SF, he stood toe to toe with RF except for one point (the last double fault :cover).

 

[Front242]

Must say I was beyond gutted when he lost to Murray at Wimbledon when up 2 sets to 0. So many opponents take the foot off the gas, get tired or just plain can't keep it up against him and lose as we saw at this year's RG but that was a great example of a hugely missed opportunity from Fiasco, er Verdasco. Much like Nalbandian and indeed so many others out there, he has all the shots in the book but he's mentally weak.

 

[Puppet Master]

Didn't he choke against Andy once in Wimby. That one was more pathetic. At least the 2009 SF, he stood toe to toe with RF except for one point (the last double fault :cover).

Yeah, 2013 Wimbledon, he lost being two sets to love up. Crazy guy...
I know that his ballbashing can burn a lot of energy and you can't have many good runs in a row with that, but no one asked him to win all 4 slams in a year. I would have been euphoric if he had like 2 or 3 slams and 4 or 5 masters. Even better if it could happen at the expense of A CERTAIN SOMEONE, but he is far away from those kind of results. He would probably laugh at my post how little belief he has.

 

[10isfan]

Verdasco is a sight to behold when in full flight. However, I think you underestimate the importance of the head in matches. Mental frailty or low tennis IQ will easily swamp a great serve, groundies, volley, etc.

 

[El Dude]

There are many cases of very talented players who underachieved, anyone from Dimitrov to Gulbis to Veradsco to Nalbandian to Stich to Pioline to Mecir to Gerulaitis. In the end, the true greats combined physical talent AND mental fortitude, which this underachieving group tends to lack.

 

[mrzz]

Where is the heartbreaking part? I got the headscratching one...

 

[Front242]

There are loads of things you can take for mental toughness and there's a good chance the top guys are all taking something to keep them wired to the moon and maybe the lesser players don't research enough 'cos their teams aren't elite enough to realize this.