week. 2008: Third ATP title Fernando entered the Australian Open as the 25th seed. He won his opening match with a strong performance against Thierry Ascione. He lost his second-round match in a close battle with Serbian Janko Tipsarević, who later went on to take Roger Federer to 5 sets. Fernando entered the Dubai Tennis Championships with a possible second-round opponent of either Roger Federer or Andy Murray, his opponent would be Murray after he beat Federer in three sets. Fernando managed to take Murray to three sets but after a good performance, he lost the match. In Berlin, Fernando and doubles partner Feliciano López clinched Spain's spot in the Davis Cup semifinals after defeating Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner in a four-hour and 45-minute marathon match. At the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco, Fernando lost to Gaël Monfils in straight sets in the first round. In Barcelona the following week he also lost his first-round match in straight sets to Nicolás Lapentti. His form improved dramatically for the Rome Masters where he reached the third round, en route he got the better of Carlos Moyá and Nicolás Lapentti (who had beaten him the week earlier) before losing in a thriller to James Blake. Fernando continued his run of excellent form into the Hamburg Masters where he beat Mikhail Youzhny in the first round. In the second round, he beat Michaël Llodra. Verdasco then went on to record a remarkable win against compatriot David Ferrer in straight sets. His run ended when he met world number 1, Roger Federer, losing. At the French Open Verdasco was seeded No. 22 and enjoyed a good run, ending with a loss to Rafael Nadal in the last 16. On 9 June, Fernando achieved his career-high ranking of No. 20, as a result of his run at the French Open. He reached the final of the Nottingham Open raising his ranking to a career-high of No. 18. At Wimbledon, he lost to Mario Ančić in a five-set thriller in which the last set lasted over 90 minutes and ended 13–11, in the fourth round. His performance at The Wimbledon Championships brought his world ranking up to No. 13. His most recent ATP victory was in Umag (Studena Croatian Open Umag), Croatia where he defeated Igor Andreev. Afterward, he again improved in the rankings to 11th place. Verdasco was the 13th seed at the US