win the first set, and eventually the match. This victory retained the Davis Cup for Spain and was a fitting end to Verdasco's most successful season on the tour so far. 2010: First masters final & ATP 500 title, top 10 year-end ranking Verdasco started his 2010 season at the exhibition tournament AAMI Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, in preparation for the upcoming Australian Open. He beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. His first official tournament for the year was in the Australian Open. As the 9th seed, he lost in the fourth round against Nikolay Davydenko in a five-set match. His next tournament was the SAP Open in San Jose, California. Before his first-round match, he won an exhibition match against Pete Sampras in straight sets. In the tournament final, he defeated Andy Roddick to capture his fourth ATP singles title. This was his first win over a Top 10 ranked player since the 2009 Australian Open. He arrived late at the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, and as a result, he was ousted in the opening round by Jérémy Chardy. Verdasco's next tournament was the Acapulco where he lost to Juan Mónaco in the quarterfinals. Seeded 10th (and as a result, receiving a bye into the second round) at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells where, in the third round, he lost to Tomáš Berdych. At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, after receiving an opening-round bye, he lost to Berdych in the quarterfinals. At the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, as the sixth seed, he defeated the number 1 seed Novak Djokovic to reach his first-ever Masters 1000 final, to meet five-time defending champion, Rafael Nadal. It was the first all-Spanish final of a Masters 1000 event since Monte Carlo in 2002. However, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal. Despite the lopsided final, Verdasco had done enough to ensure a return to the Top 10, at number nine. The following week, Verdasco played at the 2010 Barcelona Open as the fifth seed, where he defeated Robin Söderling to win his fifth career singles title. In the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where he played in his second semifinal appearance at the Masters 1000 level, he faced David Ferrer and lost. Verdasco's next tournament was the Madrid Open, where he was seeded sixth. After receiving a bye in the first round, he defeated Ivo Karlović before falling to