David Nalbandian

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David Nalbandian
Nickname(s)	King David El Rey David
Country	Argentina
Residence	Unquillo, Córdoba, Argentina
Date of birth	January 1, 1982 (1982-01-01) (age 27)
Place of birth	Unquillo, Córdoba, Argentina
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Weight	80 kg (180 lb; 13 st)
Turned pro	2000
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$9,788,949
Singles
Career record:	306–147
Career titles:	10
Highest ranking:	No. 3 (March 20, 2006)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	SF (2006)
French Open	SF (2004, 2006)
Wimbledon	F (2002)
US Open	SF (2003)
Major tournaments
Tour Finals	W (2005)
Olympic Games	3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record:	42–51
Career titles:	0
Highest ranking:	No. 116 (July 21, 2003)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2003)
French Open	1R (2003)
Wimbledon	2R (2003)
Infobox last updated on: April 27, 2009.

Nalbandian at the 2006 US Open.

David Nalbandian (born January 1, 1982) is an Argentinian professional tennis player who is ranked 15th in the world as of April 20, 2009. During the course of his career, Nalbandian has won ten ATP titles.

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 wasn't 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 wasn't 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 semifinals, again he lost to the eventual champion Gastón Gaudio. Although he didn't 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 quarterfinals 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. David also becomes the first player to win the cup without previously attaining a Grand Slam or Masters Series title.

2006

In January 2006, Nalbandian defeated Fabrice Santoro of France 7–5, 6–0, 6–0, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, becoming only the third active player then (along with Roger Federer and Marat Safin) 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 first time in his career that he reached two Grand Slam semi-finals in one calendar year. He played Roger Federer and started very well, taking 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 abdominal injuries. At Wimbledon, Nalbandian was beaten in the third round - it was the first time he didn't reach the last 16. 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 defeated Mark Philippoussis 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 to give Argentina a 1–0 lead. Nalbandian felt as if the crowd wasn't fired up because he was cruising through the match. When the draw for the Davis Cup semifinal was being made with Argentina vs. Australia, Nalbandian shook hands with Australian Mark Philippoussis and asked him to join the party on Saturday night, implying that Argentina would beat Australia 3–0 on Saturday. Nalbandian was indeed correct, and Argentina went on to thrash Australia 5–0. Nalbandian said the only thing he was disappointed that he "didn't have the opportunity to beat Lleyton Hewitt", whom he beat in the Davis Cup quarterfinal in 2005, winning 6–2, 6–4, 6–4 in Australia (Nalbandian's record against Hewitt is 1–3). Prior to the Davis Cup semifinal, Nalbandian said, "We beat them in Australia, and we're going to beat them again." Argentina went on to humiliate Australia, thrashing them 5–0. Nalbandian also fired up the clash with Australia by saying that 'Hewitt has no friends on the ATP Tour'.

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 Đjoković, and #1 seed Roger Federer in consecutive rounds, becoming the third player after Boris Becker and Đjoković to defeat the world's top three players in a single tournament. He defeated Nadal, 6–1, 6–2, in the quarterfinals. 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 semifinals. 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 quarterfinals 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 serving at the 2008 Pacific Life Open.

Nalbandian began his 2008 season back in the top ten. However, at the Australian Open, he failed to make the quarterfinals 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 quarterfinals 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 second 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 10th 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 upsetted 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, 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 5 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 continue with the rest of the season.

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 two-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.^[7]

Distinctions

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (April 2009)

• He is one of only five active players to have achieved the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slams, along with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin and Novak Djokovic.
• Nalbandian became the third man to beat the world's top three players in the same tournament. The other two men are Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic.
• Nalbandian is one of the eight men to beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since they assumed the #1 and #2 positions respectively; the other seven men being Tomas Berdych, Novak Djokovic, Fernando González, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, James Blake and Gilles Simon. He managed to do this feat in two consecutive Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris.
• Nalbandian is one of the four men to beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic since they assumed #1, #2 and #3 positions respectively; the others being Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Gilles Simon.

Miscellaneous

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (April 2009)

• Nalbandian is of Armenian descent and his surname derives from the Persian title نعلبندیان (næl-bæn-dīân), literally translating to horseshoer. 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 keeps a good relationship with Argentine players, especially Agustín Calleri.
• 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	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	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	Andy Roddick	6–1, 6–3
Runner-up	2004	Rome	Clay	Carlos Moyà	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	2004	Madrid	Hard (i)	Marat Safin	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	2007	Madrid	Hard (i)	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner	2007	Paris	Hard (i)	Rafael Nadal	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	2008	Paris	Hard (i)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6–3, 4–6, 6–4

Career finals

Singles: 20 (10-10)

Wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	April 8, 2002	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Jarkko Nieminen	6–4, 7–6(5)
2.	October 21, 2002	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Fernando González	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
3.	May 1, 2005	Munich, Germany	Clay	Andrei Pavel	6–4, 6–1
4.	November 20, 2005	Year-End Championships, Shanghai, China	Carpet (i)	Roger Federer	6–7(4), 6–7(11), 6–2, 6–1, 7–6(3)
5.	May 7, 2006	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	6–3, 6–4
6.	October 21, 2007	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
7.	November 4, 2007	Paris, France	Hard (i)	Rafael Nadal	6–4, 6–0
8.	February 24, 2008	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	José Acasuso	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–4
9.	October 4, 2008	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Robin Söderling	6–2, 5–7, 6–3
10.	January 17, 2009	Sydney, Australia	Hard	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	Félix Mantilla	7–6(2), 6–4
2.	July 8, 2002	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Lleyton Hewitt	6–1, 6–3, 6–2
3.	August 11, 2003	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Andy Roddick	6–1, 6–3
4.	October 27, 2003	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Guillermo Coria	walkover
5.	May 10, 2004	Rome, Italy	Clay	Carlos Moyà	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
6.	October 18, 2004	Madrid, Spain	Hard	Marat Safin	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
7.	October 25, 2004	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Jiří Novák	5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2
8.	February 25, 2008	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Nicolás Almagro	6–1, 7–6(1)
9.	October 26, 2008	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Roger Federer	6–3, 6–4
10.	November 2, 2008	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6–3, 4–6, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (0-1)

Runner-ups (1)

• 2003
  • Buenos Aires with Lucas Arnold (lost to Mariano Hood & Sebastián Prieto)

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.

Walkovers are neither official wins nor official losses. To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Nalbandian

Tennis portal

• Official website
• David Nalbandian at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• David Nalbandian at the International Tennis Federation
• David Nalbandian at Davis Cup

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Manu Ginóbili and Carlos Tévez	Olimpia de Oro 2005	Succeeded by Germán Chiaraviglio