{"id":26108,"date":"2025-02-15T02:54:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T02:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=26108"},"modified":"2025-02-15T02:54:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T02:54:01","slug":"tennis-icon-confirms-final-match-with-novak-djokovic-before-emotional-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=26108","title":{"rendered":"Tennis icon confirms final match with Novak Djokovic before emotional retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.avif?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/avif\" media=\"screen and (min-width:10000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.webp?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"screen and (min-width:10000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.jpg?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"screen and (min-width:10000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/674x400\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.avif?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/avif\" media=\"screen and (min-width:100000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/674x400\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.webp?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"screen and (min-width:100000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/674x400\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.jpg?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"screen and (min-width:100000px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/940x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.avif?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/avif\" media=\"screen and (min-width:1200px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/940x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.webp?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"screen and (min-width:1200px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/940x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.jpg?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"screen and (min-width:1200px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.avif?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/avif\" media=\"screen\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.webp?r=1739574105542\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"screen\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"ATP Challenger Sevilla\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.jpg?r=1739574105542\" alt=\"Tennis icon confirms final match with Novak Djokovic before emotional retirement\" width=\"590\" height=\"394\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/Fernando-Verdasco-5960079.jpg?r=1739574105542\" \/><\/picture>\n<p>Fernando Verdasco is set to retire. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Spanish tennis legend Fernando Verdasco has confirmed he will bow out from the sport playing alongside Novak Djokovic. The 41-year-old is in his 24th season as a professional player, and reached a career-high ranking of world No.7 in 2009.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">That was the same season he produced his best showing at a Grand Slam, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open before losing to eventual winner Rafael Nadal.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">And the curtain will now come down on his career at the Qatar Open in Doha next week, where he has entered into the men\u2019s doubles alongside the Serbian icon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Verdasco announced his decision on Instagram, posting a video of himself alongside Djokovic to explain his reasoning. And he also wrote an emotional caption revealing that Djokovic had previously agreed to his special request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter so many incredible years on the ATP Tour, the time has come for my final tournament at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2025,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what better way to finish than playing doubles with my friend Novak Djokovic , a true legend of our sport and one of the best athletes of all time<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNovak thank you so much for saying yes since the first moment I told you. I\u2019m going to enjoy every moment and give it my all one last time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong> Stay up-to-date with the latest Tennis news <\/strong> Join us on WhatsApp<\/p>\n<p>Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy<\/p>\n<div class=\"text-description\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Link Content Paragraph\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p402_hide htmlappend\" data-id=\"67183281\">\n<div class=\"text-description\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Link Content Paragraph\">\n<div class=\"instagram-iframe-wrapper entered\" data-lazy-function=\"instagram\" data-ll-status=\"entered\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DGERtAYN1iW\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.express.co.uk&amp;rp=%2Fsport%2Ftennis%2F2014821%2FFernando-Verdasco-Novak-Djokovic-doubles-Qatar-Open-retirement#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A12704.799999982119%2C%22ls%22%3A12698.199999988079%2C%22le%22%3A12700.199999988079%7D\" height=\"1709\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Referencing the fans, he added: \u201cThank you, everyone, for being there for me throughout my career, in the good times and in the bad times. Let\u2019s make this week unforgettable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verdasco\u2019s career appeared in danger of petering out in late 2022 when he received a two-month ban after testing positive for the prohibited substance methylphenidate. However, authorities did show leniency, having accepted Verdasco\u2019s argument that he had forgotten to renew his therapeutic use exemption for the medication.<\/p>\n<p>The following year, he dropped out of the world\u2019s top 500. But he has now seemingly found the perfect way to bow out by sharing a court with one of the all-time greats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Invalid email<\/p>\n<p>We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you&#8217;ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>After uploading his video, Verdasco\u2019s post received more than 25,000 likes in just over an hour. And many of his 282,000 plus followers also recated with comments congratulating him on his career.<\/p>\n<p>The star was also a quarter-finalist in Wimbledon and 2013, famously losing to eventual champion Andy Murray after leading by two sets. He also became an established doubles player and that same year, triumphed at the ATP Finals with David Marrero.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What a fitting way to bow out after a 24-year professional career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tennis icon confirms final match with Novak Djokovic before emotional retirement - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=26108\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tennis icon confirms final match with Novak Djokovic before emotional retirement - 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