Verdasco plays for time onboard Shanghai bullet train

Oct 13, 2009, 6:28 GMT

   Shanghai - Spain's Fernando Verdasco played perhaps the fastest points of his career, sparring in mini-tennis with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the 431-kilometre-per-hour Maglev train on a run to Shanghai's airport Tuesday.

   The clever photo op featured a bit of hit-and-giggle for the ATP pair, both in the chase for one of the last remaining places in next month's eight-man season final in London.

   There was no time to lose, with the German-developed magnetic levitation train blasting over the 30 kilometers between the city's Longyang road station to Pudong International in eight minutes.

   Prior to their brief sparring session, the players were ushered into the driver's cabin, but kept well away from the controls of the speed-record beast.

   On the short sprint back to town, they managed to knock a few balls over a net set up in a cabin stripped of its seats and plastered with logos.

   'It was a funny sensation to be inside a train going so fast,' said Verdasco. 'I've been at 380 kph but this is the fastest.

   'It's certainly faster than I've ever driven a car - but I don't want to say how fast that might have been. But I'm not a huge fan of speed, even roller-coasters can sometimes scare me.'

   The Spaniard said that he will travel next week to Las Vegas for more training work with Gil Reyes, former fitness trainer of Andre Agassi.

   And the number nine also revealed he is likely to buy a home in the distressed city for the sake of convenience.

   But Verdasco's main goal is to try and avoid the foot surgery which he had already postponed after the US Open.

   'I have one and a half months more in the season and this is what I'm working on. I want to try and solve it without an operation.'

   Verdasco is also awaiting the decision on the Spanish Davis Cup team to play the Czech Republic in the Barcelona final December 4-6.

   He and Rafael Nadal appear to be the main singles candidates, depending on fitness.

   But he is also working to lift his ranking enough to make into the World Tour Finals for the first time. 'This week in Shanghai and at Paris Bercy (in November) are the most important for earning points,' said Verdasco, who also plans to play from November 2 in Valencia.

   'I will try my best to make it to London. My goal for this season was to reach the Top Ten and at least the fourth round of Grand Slams. But I've had to revise them,' said the Australian Open semi-finalist who reached the last eight at the US Open.