Players Under the Microscope / Scott Ferguson / 23 October 2007 /

Scott's Spot- Scott looks at how an unseeded Nalbandian came from nowhere to beat the planet's best player

Just how does a player whose 2007 record sat at 19-17 suddenly come out and beat nos.1, 2 and 3 in consecutive days? This is not just any player, but one of only three active players who have claimed the upper hand against Roger Federer at least five times.

After breaking into the top 100 in July 2001, David Nalbandian emerged as an elite player in 2002 when he reached the Wimbledon final ranked 32. His ranking instantly halved and was virtually a permanent fixture in the top 20 until June this year. Much of 2006 was spent at number three, 'the best of the rest' behind the indefatiguable duo of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. This year had been steadily heading south though, dropping from eight in early January into the mid-twenties.

The native of Cordoba, Argentina's second-largest city, has been suffering from tendonitis in his left knee, usually a chronic problem that players simply have to deal with. This season has been blighted by losses to players he'd normally handle comfortably such as Pless, Nieminen, Johansson, Kohlschreiber, Gicquel, Kunitsyn.
His record was 19-17 coming into Madrid which is not the form of a world number three.

Nalbandian took a month off after the US Open to recover and work with his new coach, Martin Jaite, who joined him at the start of the North American hardcourt season. He also took time out to relax, kicking back with a fishing rod for a few days and then launching an Argentinean rally team, Tango Rally, which he co-owns, in the World Championships, jumping in for a drive himself in a knockout race as well.

The freshen-up obviously did him the world of good as after a couple of 'prelude' matches in Vienna, he stormed through the draw in Madrid, dropping just one set against the world's best three players of the moment. His win over Federer though is no shock, his senior record now stands at 7-8 against the Swiss maestro, with the most famous victory of all being that Masters Cup final win in Shanghai, coming from two-sets-to-love down to beat a limping Federer in a fifth-set breaker.

The ATP files will show Nalbandian holding the early dominance over Federer, winning five matches in a row in 2002-3, but it started earlier than that. Nalbandian also held the edge in junior ranks, winning the US Open boys' title over Federer in 1998 as well. Since November 2003 though, the record is rather lopsided though, 8-2 to you know who.

So how do we assess David Nalbandian when he lines up in a tournament? Your guess is as good as mine. Will this return to form provide the impetus for a surge back to the top five, or even higher? We know his record against Federer, last week was his first clash against the 'Pearl of Manacor' and versus Djokovic, the slate is level at 1-1. Nalbandian has been one of my favourite players for several years - he's not your typical South American, having grown up playing on a backyard cement court rather than clay and is capable of good results on all surfaces, as shown in his Grand Slam record, having made the semis at each event. At 25, he has plenty of years left in him, provided his body can stand the strain, to be a regular feature at the top end of the rankings. Now if only he'd get rid of that South American mullet.....

To read more about David Nalbandian go to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nalbandian

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