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David Nalbandian

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David Nalbandian
Country (sports) Argentina
ResidenceUnquillo, Córdoba, Argentina
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Turned pro2000
PlaysRight-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize money$9,788,949
Singles
Career record306–147
Career titles10
Highest rankingNo. 3 (March 20, 2006)
Current rankingNo. 130 (January 18, 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (2006)
French OpenSF (2004, 2006)
WimbledonF (2002)
US OpenSF (2003)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsW (2005)
Olympic Games3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record42–51
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 116 (July 21, 2003)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2003)
French Open1R (2003)
Wimbledon2R (2003)
Last updated on: January 18, 2010.

David Nalbandian (born January 1, 1982) is an Argentinian-Armenian professional tennis player who is ranked 140th in the world as of February 1, 2010.

Career on the ATP

2000–2002

He turned professional in 2000. In 2001, he finished in the ATP top 50 for the first time. He finished 2002 as No. 1 Argentine and South American for the first time in his career, winning two ATP titles and reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt. His run to the 2002 Wimbledon final is remarkable, considering that it was his first ever pro tournament on grass.

2003–2004

Nalbandian was not able to return to the Wimbledon Championship in 2003, as he was knocked out in the Round of 16 to hometown favourite Tim Henman. He did however make an impressive run at the U.S. Open, taking out both of the Wimbledon finalists #20 seed Mark Philippoussis, and the #2 seed Roger Federer along the way to a semifinal matchup with Andy Roddick. It was the second time in less than a month that he would meet Roddick in high stakes match, having lost to him in the final of Rogers Cup a few weeks earlier, Nalbandian started strongly as he took a two sets to love lead, and held a match point in the third set tiebreak. There was a little bit of controversy during the match when a fan yelled "out" at 7–7 in the tiebreak, causing Nalbandian to mishit his following shot when he thought the linesman was the one who called it. Roddick took the point and eventually prevailed in the tiebreak.[2] Ultimately, he was not able to finish the match and eventually lost 6–7, 3–6, 7–6(7), 6–1, 6–3, Roddick would go on to win the championships. He finished 2003 ranked #8 in the world.

In 2004, Nalbandian made his best effort at the French Open reaching the semi-finals, again he lost to the eventual champion Gastón Gaudio. Although he did not win any titles in 2004, he did finish runner-up at both the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters, losing to Carlos Moya and Marat Safin, respectively. He broke into the top 5 for the first time in his career in July and finished 2004 ranked as the world #9 player.

2005

In 2005, Nalbandian advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open, more importantly he won the Tennis Masters Cup, becoming only the second Argentine tennis player in history (after Guillermo Vilas in 1974) to win the end of year tournament. Having replaced American Andy Roddick, Nalbandian won two of his three group matches (l. to Roger Federer, d. Ivan Ljubičić and Guillermo Coria). In the semi-finals he defeated Russian Nikolay Davydenko and in the final, he beat World No. 1 Roger Federer in the fifth-set tiebreak. Nalbandian also became the first player to win the cup without previously attaining a Grand Slam or Masters Series title.

2006

In January 2006, Nalbandian beat Fabrice Santoro of France 7–5, 6–0, 6–0, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, becoming only the second active player (as of February 2006, along with Roger Federer) to have reached the semi-finals of each Grand Slam tournament. He would lose the semifinals to Marcos Baghdatis in a hard fought five set match, despite holding a two-set-to-love advantage and 4 games to 2 in the final set. In May, Nalbandian won the Estoril Open Tournament in Portugal for the second time, being one of only three men to achieve this accomplishment (Carlos Costa, 1992 and 1994; and Thomas Muster, 1995 and 1996). One month later, Nalbandian reached his second French Open semi-final. It was the only time in his career that he reached two Grand Slam semi-finals in one calendar year. He played Roger Federer and started strongly, winning the first set 6–3 and going 3–0 up in the second set. At 5–2 down in the third set, Nalbandian decided to retire from the match, due to stomache injury. At Wimbledon, Nalbandian was beaten in the third round, where he lost to Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. At the US Open, Nalbandian was beaten in the second round against former Grand Slam champion Marat Safin.

Nalbandian then competed in the Davis Cup semi-final against Australia. David easily won against Mark Philippoussis 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 to give Argentina a 1–0 lead. Argentina went on to win 5–0 to reach the Davis Cup final.

Later in the year Nalbandian reached semi-finals at Masters Series Madrid and Masters Cup, where he lost to Roger Federer and James Blake respectively.

Despite winning both of his single rubbers in the Davis Cup final against Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko, Nalbandian could not stop the Russian Davis Cup team. Argentina went on to lose 3–2.

2007

2007 saw Nalbandian drop out of the world's top twenty for the first time since 2003 after losing in the fourth round of the 2007 French Open to Nikolay Davydenko. Nalbandian suffered various abdominal injuries, a back injury and a leg injury during the year which is the reason for his form lapse.

He fell to No. 26 in the world until his season changed after winning the 2007 Madrid Masters. He won the tournament by defeating #2 seed Rafael Nadal, #3 seed Novak Djoković, and #1 seed Roger Federer in consecutive rounds, becoming the third player after Boris Becker and Djoković to defeat the world's top three players in a single tournament. He defeated Nadal, 6–1, 6–2, in the quarter-finals. His good form carried him to his second top three win of the tournament, defeating Djoković in the semifinals. He then stunned Federer in the final, winning 1–6, 6–3, 6–3. He also reached the doubles semifinals with Guillermo Cañas in the tournament before losing to top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals. After the tournament, his singles ranking moved up from No. 25 on the tour to No. 18, losing in the first round of his next tournament.

Nalbandian would later play at the 2007 Paris Masters and again defeated Federer in the third round 6–4, 7–6(3). He then beat David Ferrer in the quarter-finals in a closely fought match, winning 7–6(3), 6–7(3), 6–2. After beating Richard Gasquet 6–2, 6–4 in the semifinals, Nalbandian won his second straight ATP Masters Series title over Rafael Nadal, winning 6–4, 6–0, thus, becoming the first player to win the Madrid and Paris Masters back-to-back since former world#1, Marat Safin in 2004. This win allowed Nalbandian to move back into the world's top 10 at #9.

2008

David Nalbandian attempting to defend his title at the 2008 BNP Paribas Masters

Nalbandian began his 2008 season back in the top ten. However, at the Australian Open, he failed to make the quarter-finals of the tournament, suffering a 6–1, 6–2, 6–3, loss to the No. 22 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round. On February 24, 2008 Nalbandian won the Copa Telmex on home soil in Buenos Aires, beating fellow compatriot José Acasuso 3–6, 7–6(5), 6–4, in the final. With that win he moved to world number 8 on the ATP rankings. The following week, He arrived at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico and cruised all the way to the finals, along the way defeating Boris Pašanski, Santiago Ventura, Potito Starace, and Luis Horna, dispatching them all in straight sets, but then lost in the final to Spaniard Nicolás Almagro, 1–6, 6–7(1).

He entered his first ATP Masters Series tournament of the year at the 2008 Pacific Life Open, and received a "bye" in the first round because of his seventh seeding. In the second round, he defeated Ernests Gulbis 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(4), and then came back to beat Radek Štěpánek, 7–6(1), 0–6, 7–6(6). In the fourth round, he avenged his defeat by beating Juan Carlos Ferrero, whom he lost earlier in the year at the Australian Open, winning 6–2, 6–2. He lost however, in the quarter-finals against Mardy Fish, 3–6, 7–6(5), 6–7(4), in a very close match. He then lost at the Monte Carlo Masters to eventual finalist Roger Federer 7–5, 2–6, 2–6. In Barcelona, he was the third seed, but was eliminated by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. At the 2008 Rome Masters, he fell in his opening match to Nicolás Almagro, losing 4–6, 5–7.

At the French Open, Nalbandian suffered a shock loss in the second round to Frenchman Jérémy Chardy. After being two sets up and seemingly in control, he lost the next three to hand Chardy the win, losing 3–6, 4–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–2. He would also suffer early exits from both Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the second round and third round, respectively. His indoor season however, was a success as he won his 9th career title at the 2008 Stockholm Open, defeating Robin Soderling 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, in the finals. He was defending champion at the Madrid Masters, but was quickly eliminated by fellow Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the third round. He then entered both the Davidoff Swiss Indoors and the BNP Paribas Masters, where he was once again the defending champion. He did not win any of these 2 tournaments but found himself in the finals of both. To end the year, he participated in the 2008 Davis Cup and was up on an opening match against David Ferrer. Despite a victory, he ended up on the losing team against Spain in the Davis Cup finals in Argentina (The Argentine team lost 1–3). He then made numerous offensive comments in the press against Spain, the Spanish tennis team and its top star Rafael Nadal. It was rumoured[3] that he and fellow friend Agustin Calleri where involved in a fight after their doubles rubber was lost. Nalbandian strenuously denied this.[4] Nevertheless, he was fined $10,000 for leaving the stadium after his and Calleri's defeat in doubles to the Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez and his refusal to appear at a subsequent press conference to comment on the Argentine team's setback.

2009

Nalbandian started his 2009 tour by winning his tenth career ATP title at the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia after defeating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 6–7(9), 6–2 in the final. At the Australian Open, he defeated Marc Gicquel in the first round, 6–1, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3, before being upset by unseeded Taiwanese player Lu Yen-Hsun 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, in the second round.

At the 2009 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Nalbandian lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, 6–3, 6–7(5), 0–6 in the fourth round for the first time, failing to convert on five match points in the second set.

In May, he announced that he would have to undergo a hip surgery, resulting in not being able to compete in the remaining Grand Slams and the Davis Cup. In August, he announced that he would return to practice and eventually to competitive tennis at the Australian Open in January. A few days before the beginning of the tournament, he was forced to withdraw from the event due to an abdominal injury.

Playing style

Nalbandian is an all-court player and is known as one of the cleanest ball strikers in the sport.[5] He uses powerfully struck, sharply accurate groundstrokes which have very low error-percentage. His signature play is the wide drive that swings out of court on both sides, low and spinning. He is able to take high balls on the backhand and forehand side and return them with acute angles and low trajectories. What’s more, he uses these skills with great tactical intelligence.[6] Given his adept use of angle, depth, and pace, his opponents often have difficulty breaking down one particular side. His ground game is complemented by his anticipation, speed and ability to end points at the net. Nalbandian's trademark shot is his double-handed backhand down-the-line, which he often uses to set up a point, by either hitting a clean winner or forcing a weak return from the opponent. Nalbandian is also known to be one of the game's best returners. He is consistently able to knock balls back deep on the baseline time and time again to effectively set up the point or rip return winners off second serves, but he also has the ability to block it back deep when returning a more effective serve. He is also known to use a "chip-and-charge" technique against the opponents serves to surprise them.[7]

Distinctions

Miscellaneous

  • Nalbandian's Mother is Italian.1
  • One of his grandfathers is Armenian.
  • Nalbandian is of Armenian descent and his surname derives from Armenian Նալբանդյան Nalbandyan, from նալբանդ nalband “farrier”, of Persian origin. In 2008, he received an Armenian passport from the Armenian ambassador in Buenos Aires.[8]
  • David Nalbandian is sponsored by Yonex. His racquet of choice is the Yonex RDiS 100 Midplus, and also wears both Yonex clothing and shoes.
  • Nalbandian is a fan of the River Plate football team and has his own rally team called Tango Rally with Marcos Ligato as the main driver.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2002 Wimbledon Grass Australia Lleyton Hewitt 6–1, 6–3, 6–2

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 2005 Shanghai Hard Switzerland Roger Federer 6–7(4), 6–7(11), 6–2, 6–1, 7–6(3)

Masters Series finals

Singles: 6 (2–4)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2003 Canada (Montreal) Hard United States Andy Roddick 6–1, 6–3
Runner-up 2004 Rome Clay Spain Carlos Moyà 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 2004 Madrid Hard (i) Russia Marat Safin 6–2, 6–4, 6–3
Winner 2007 Madrid Hard (i) Switzerland Roger Federer 1–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner 2007 Paris Hard (i) Spain Rafael Nadal 6–4, 6–0
Runner-up 2008 Paris Hard (i) France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–3, 4–6, 6–4

Career finals

Singles: 20 (10–10)

Wins (10)
Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (1)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (2)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0)
ATP International Series &
ATP World Tour 250 Series (7)
Titles by Surface
Hard (4)
Clay (4)
Grass (0)
Carpet (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. April 8, 2002 Estoril, Portugal Clay Finland Jarkko Nieminen 6–4, 7–6(5)
2. October 21, 2002 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i) Chile Fernando González 6–4, 6–3, 6–2
3. May 1, 2005 Munich, Germany Clay Romania Andrei Pavel 6–4, 6–1
4. November 20, 2005 Year-End Championships, Shanghai, China Carpet (i) Switzerland Roger Federer 6–7(4), 6–7(11), 6–2, 6–1, 7–6(3)
5. May 7, 2006 Estoril, Portugal Clay Russia Nikolay Davydenko 6–3, 6–4
6. October 21, 2007 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) Switzerland Roger Federer 1–6, 6–3, 6–3
7. November 4, 2007 Paris, France Hard (i) Spain Rafael Nadal 6–4, 6–0
8. February 24, 2008 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Argentina José Acasuso 3–6, 7–6(5), 6–4
9. October 4, 2008 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Sweden Robin Söderling 6–2, 5–7, 6–3
10. January 17, 2009 Sydney, Australia Hard Finland Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 6–7(9), 6–2
Runner-ups (10)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. October 1, 2001 Palermo, Italy Clay Spain Félix Mantilla 7–6(2), 6–4
2. July 8, 2002 Wimbledon, London, UK Grass Australia Lleyton Hewitt 6–1, 6–3, 6–2
3. August 11, 2003 Montreal, Canada Hard United States Andy Roddick 6–1, 6–3
4. October 27, 2003 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i) Argentina Guillermo Coria walkover
5. May 10, 2004 Rome, Italy Clay Spain Carlos Moyà 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
6. October 18, 2004 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) Russia Marat Safin 6–2, 6–4, 6–3
7. October 25, 2004 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i) Czech Republic Jiří Novák 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2
8. February 25, 2008 Acapulco, Mexico Clay Spain Nicolás Almagro 6–1, 7–6(1)
9. October 26, 2008 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Switzerland Roger Federer 6–3, 6–4
10. November 2, 2008 Paris, France Hard (i) France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Exhibition Tournaments (7)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final Draw
1. January 17, 2004 AAMI Classic, Kooyong, Australia Hard United States Andre Agassi 6–2, 6–3 8
2. December 11, 2005 Indoor Master Tennis – Cordoba, Argentina Carpet (i) Argentina Mariano Puerta 6–3, 6–4 4
3. December 18, 2005 Copa Argentina – Buenos Aires, Argentina Hard Argentina Agustín Calleri 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 12
4. December 11, 2006 Indoor Master Tennis – Cordoba, Argentina Carpet (i) Chile Nicolas Massu 6–4, 6–3 12
5. December 16, 2007 Copa Argentina – Buenos Aires, Argentina Hard Argentina Juan Monaco 6–4, 7–5 8
6. December 13, 2009 Copa Minero – San Juan, Argentina Carpet (i) Argentina Gaston Gaudio 6–2, 6–2 4
7. December 20, 2009 Copa Argentina – Buenos Aires, Argentina Hard Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis 6–4, 6-4 6

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Runner-ups (1)

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the 2009 Rome Masters.

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Career W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 2R QF QF QF SF 4R 3R 2R A 22–8
French Open A A A LQ 3R 2R SF 4R SF 4R 2R A 20–7
Wimbledon A A A A F 4R A QF 3R 3R 1R A 17–6
U.S. Open A A A 3R 1R SF 2R QF 2R 3R 3R A 17–8
Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 9–4 13–4 10–3 15–4 13–4 10–4 5–4 1–1 0–0 78–29
Year-End Championship
ATP World Tour Finals A A A A A RR A W SF A A A 6–6
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held A Not Held 3R Not Held 1 / 1
ATP World Tour 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A 2R 1R A 4R 4R 4R QF 4R 12–7
Miami Masters A A 1R 1R 1R 3R A 3R SF 3R 2R 2R 7–9
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A 3R 2R QF A 3R 2R QF 3R 13–7
Rome Masters A A A A 2R 1R F 1R SF A 2R A 10–6
Madrid Masters A A A A 3R A F SF SF W 3R A 18–4
Canada Masters A A A A QF F 1R 2R 1R 3R A A 11–6
Cincinnati Masters A A A A 1R QF A 2R 2R 1R A A 5–5
Shanghai Not Held NMS Not Held Not ATP Masters Series A 0–0
Paris Masters A A A A 2R A A 2R A W F A 11–3
Hamburg Masters A A A A 1R SF 1R 1R A A A NM1 4–4
Career Statistics
ATP Finals Reached 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 2 1 2 5 1 0 17
ATP Tournaments Won 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 2 2 1 0 17
Year End Ranking 1324 532 245 47 12 8 9 6 8 9 11 64 N/A

Walkovers are neither official wins nor official losses. Template:Performance timeline legend

NMS means an event that was not an ATP Masters Series tournament.
NM1 means an event that was not an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

References

  1. ^ Credit to ATP Profile
  2. ^ Roddick vs. Nalbandian 3rd Set Tiebreak
  3. ^ AOL Noticias Latino
  4. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7746953.stm
  5. ^ title=David Nalbandian – US Open Tennis
  6. ^ title=Does David Nalbandian have the key to beating Rafael Nadal?
  7. ^ title=The secret of David Nalbandian's indoor brilliance
  8. ^ Template:Fr icon David Nalbandian a reçu son passeport arménien
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Olimpia de Oro
2005 		Succeeded by

Template:Top Argentinian male tennis players

Template:Persondata

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