Resurgent Fernando Verdasco gets first win in nearly a year in Buenos Aires

WATCH: Verdasco hadn't won an ATP main-draw match since making the Belgrade quarterfinals last spring.

It's been a while since Fernando Verdasco won a match, but he wants to get another—and soon.

The 38-year-old Spaniard is through to the second round of the ATP event in Buenos Aires this week with his first tour-level victory since the 2021 clay-court tournament in Belgrade just before Rolnd Garros.

But he's had problems just getting on court. "It's been a very complicated time for me, with the pandemic, and then my knee operation," he told Todo Sobre Tenis in Buenos Aires. “Then when I was much better, I started to have pain in my elbow, and then we decided to have surgery because it was a problem every time I played."

Verdasco also had a tough start to this season, starting in January on the ATP Challenger circuit instead of the Australian summer hard courts.

"The first days of the year, I had coronavirus along with the rest of my family," he said, which was followed by more pain in his elbow as he finished his next two events.

But his form improved at the ATP event in Cordoba a week ago, and the former No. 7 has started aiming higher.

"This year, the most important thing is to have rhythm, confidence, do things the right way, and most of all, that my body holds up to allow me to play the best possible level at my age," he said.

Verdasco, currently No. 201, is playing Buenos Aires using a protected ranking.