Spain's Fernando Verdasco has issued a warning to rivals ahead of the Australian tennis Open with an emphatic 7-5 6-3 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to clinch the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
The world number nine Verdasco beat world number eight Roger Soderling of Sweden in straight sets beforte to demolishing third-ranked Serb Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-2 at Kooyong, a tournament seen as a form guide for the Australian Open which starts today.
Verdasco meets the Australian wild card Carsten Ball in the first round and could potentially run into in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round.
