He faced some of the sport’s greatest players on the biggest stages and was always a dangerous name for his rivals to see in the draw.

But the veteran has now called time on his career and Fernando Verdasco reflected on the era of tennis that he played in.

Fernando Verdasco mentions Pete Sampras when discussing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

Like many Verdasco played in an era where that was dominated by Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

With the exception of players such as Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, very few players won Grand Slams during that period outside of the ‘Big 3’.

Following his last match at the Qatar Open, Verdasco opened up on the disappointment of being unable to have more success due to Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, and claimed the trio far surpassed what Pete Sampras achieved in his career.

“At the end, obviously it was a bit discouraging, but once you see the careers these guys had, and that now they are the best in history in the matter of Grand Slam titles,” Verdasco told reporters.

“Far away from Pete Sampras that was the best one before my generation, obviously you see that, you know, that I was losing with the best in history, no, with good player.

“So, at the end, I’m very proud to be part of this generation of this extraordinary players and to be able to share with them all my career during these 20, 25 years.”

Fernando Verdasco retires with Novak Djokovic by his side at the Qatar Open

Verdasco announced that the final tournament of his career would be the Qatar Open, playing doubles alongside Djokovic.

The pair reached the second round where they were beaten 5-7, 4-6 by the Australian Open doubles champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliövaara.

He retired with seven singles titles to his name and a semi-final appearance at the 2009 Australian Open, where he contested a thrilling five-set final against Nadal.

After his final match, Verdasco thanked Djokovic for playing doubles with him and opened up on their friendship.

“I was talking to Novak, thanking him for playing with me,” Verdasco said. “He was thanking me for choosing to play with him at my last tournament.

“We’ve always had a good relationship and when we were talking we said, who would have guessed when we played together for the first time in 2006, 18 years ago, that I would retire in Doha in 2025 with him?

“I think these are the great things about sport and in life, in the end, the memories stay with you forever.”