MELBOURNE - Spain's Fernando Verdasco issued a warning to rivals ahead of the Australian Open with an emphatic 7-5, 6-3 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to clinch the Kooyong Classic on Saturday. World number nine Verdasco, who pushed defending champion Nadal to five sets in an epic semi-final at Melbourne Park last year, broke the 10th-ranked Frenchman late in the first, then twice early in the second to seal the win in blustery conditions at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. “I think that is - and I hope - that is going to help me a lot to be ready for the next two weeks,” Verdasco told reporters. “It was really windy and really tough to play so ... if I play as good as I play with this wind I think I can really play so good if it's no windy.” Verdasco played solidly in all three matches at the eight-man invitational, a strong return to form after he was bundled out of the ATP Tour Finals in London in November with three consecutive defeats. The Spaniard beat world number eight Roger Soderling of Sweden in straight sets prior to demolishing third-ranked Serb Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday at Kooyong, a tournament seen as a form guide for the Australian Open. Verdasco, a three-time winner on the ATP tour, meets Australian wild card Carsten Ball in the first round at Melbourne Park, which begins on Monday. “It's tough draw, is very tough, starting with one guy that is going to have whole lot of people supporting him, you know, all the country,” said the Spaniard, who could potentially run into in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round. Tsonga, who upset a string of more-fancied opponents to reach the final at Melbourne Park in 2008, has been paired with Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky. Stakhovsky upset 25th-ranked American Sam Querrey in an exhibition match on Friday. Earlier on Saturday, Serbia's Novak Djokovic was upset by Australian teenager Bernard Tomic 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in another exhibition match.
