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21 Sport maltatoday, Wednesday, 20 January 2016 tennis Formula 1 nadal crashes out in first round F1 manufacturers agree to cut engine costs Former champion rafael nadal suffered his first-ever australian Open first-round defeat yesterday, losing in five sets to fellow spaniard Fernando Verdasco In a repeat of their epic 2009 semi- final at Melbourne Park which nad- al edged in five sets, Verdasco came from behind to win 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2. nadal led by two sets to one and then 2-0 in the decider on Rod Laver Arena but Verdasco came roaring back, unleashing an incredible 90 winners en route to a superb vic- tory. The world number 45 will now face Israel's Dudi Sela in round two, while nadal exits a third consecu- tive grand slam in the first week. Rafael nadal was left mystified by his latest grand slam failure which followed first-week exits at Wimble- don and the US Open last season. "He played better than me. He played more aggressive than me. He took more risks than me, and he won. Probably he deserved," nadal said. "The match is a tough lose for me obviously. Obviously is tough, es- pecially because is not like last year that I arrived here playing bad and feeling myself not ready for it. "This year was a completely dif- ferent story. I have been playing and practising great and working so much. "(It) is tough when you work so much and arrive at a very important event and you're going out too early. "But at the same time, I know I did everything that I can to be ready for it. Was not my day. Let's keep going. That's the only thing." In his pomp, nadal's forehand was the most destructive shot in the game but he was outpowered by Verdasco, who hit an incredible 90 winners to his opponent's 37. nadal has been working on play- ing further forward and asserting more authority in matches but he was unable to dictate as much as he would have liked. "In terms of creating damage to the opponent with my forehand, I didn't so I was hitting forehands, and he was able to keep hitting win- ners," nadal said. "(That) cannot happen when I am hitting my forehand. The opponent, if he wants to hit a winner, (i) is be- cause he take too much risk. In my opinion (that) was not the case of today." nadal overcame Verdasco in a momentous five-setter six years ago, but few expected a similar battle with Verdasco now 32 and with his best days behind him. nadal, though, is not the power- house presence he once was, having crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon last year and US Open third round. There had been signs of a revival in recent weeks but the 14-time major champion was sim- ply unable to cope with Verdasco's superior baseline hitting. A double fault at 6-6 in the first- set tie-break was enough to give Verdasco an early lead, but nadal looked to have ridden the storm when he clinched the next two sets - the first following a thrilling rally, which ended with nadal roaring and pumping his fists. However, Verdasco refused to lie down, cranking up the power on his forehand and nicking the fourth set to force a decider. Again nadal edged ahead with an early break in the fifth, but it was Verdasco who strung together six games in a row, including two breaks of serve, to seal victory in four hours and 41 minutes. Verdasco was quick to recall his 2009 loss. "I don't know how many times I have watched that match, maybe 10 times," he said. "Still now they come to me telling me like how good I play seven years ago. I'm like, 'you know I didn't play again after that?' Even last night they told me at the hotel. "I'm like, I play against him tomor- row again. Many times people came to me and tell me about that match." Meanwhile, former champion Stan Wawrinka progressed when his op- ponent Dmitry Tursunov retired af- ter losing the first two sets. Spain's David Ferrer, Canada's Mi- los Raonic, American John Isner and Frenchman Gael Monfils all moved into round two with straight-sets wins. However, 11th seed Kevin Ander- son quit his match with Rajeev Ram when two sets to one and a break of serve in arrears. The South African has been struggling with a knee in- jury at the start of 2016. Fabio Fognini was another seed to fall, losing a four-set match to Gilles Muller in which every set was de- cided by a tie-break. Australian Bernard Tomic over- came Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in four sets but the match had to be stopped for around 15 minutes when a spectator suddenly fell ill. In the night session, Lleyton Hewitt prolonged her career by at least one more match. The former world number one, who will retire at the end of the tournament, beat fellow Aussie James Duckworth in straight sets on the Rod Laver Arena and now meets Ferrer on Thursday. Spain's Rafael Nadal waves to the crowd as he leaves after losing his first round match against Spain's Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open tennis tournament FORMULA One's four manufac- turers have agreed a deal to re- duce the cost of engines and en- sure that no team is left without a supply, sources at the governing FIA said on Tuesday after meet- ings in Geneva. In exchange, the manufacturers were assured that the current V6 turbo hybrid power unit regula- tions would remain stable until at least 2020, staving off the threat of an alternative independent supplier being introduced. The sport's core Strategy Group, which includes the six top teams and governing body and commer- cial rights holder, had met in Ge- neva on Monday before a meet- ing of the broader Formula One Commission yesterday. The agreement, details of which had yet to be finalised, will come into force in 2018. The four manufacturers -- Fer- rari, Mercedes, Renault and Hon- da -- had agreed to come up with proposals by last Friday with the FIA and commercial rights hold- er Bernie Ecclestone threatening to tender for an independent op- tion if no progress was made. FIA president Jean Todt had told reporters in Birmingham, England, last Friday that he was optimistic a solution was close. The situation came to a head last year when former champions Red Bull struggled to secure an engine for this season. In the end they managed to patch up frayed relations with Renault and continue with the French manufacturer after Mer- cedes ruled out a supply, Ferrari offered only an old engine and Honda's interest was vetoed by partners McLaren.