Events / Ben Caudell / 16 April 2010 /

Ben Caudell tells us why after a successful campaign in Monte Carlo so far for David Nalbandian, a match-up against Novak Djokovic is likely to mean the end of the road for the Argentine..

Novak Djokovic (SER) v David Nalbandian (ARG)

Number one seed Novak Djokovic dispatched last week's Casablanca tournament winner Stanislas Wawrinka out of the Monte Carlo Masters in a repeat of last year's semi final 6- 4 6-4. The Serbinator now faces David Nalbandian, a player ranked No. 151 in the world rankings, after right hip surgery last year caused the Argentine to miss the majority of the 2009 season.

Nalbandian progressed to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter final in 18 months after he defeated the No. 1 seeded player Tommy Robredo of Spain in a solid performance 6-3 6-4.

Facing last year's tournament finalist in the quarter finals is going to be a tough prospect for the ageing Argentine, who needs to be more convincing on his service games if he is going to have any chance of reaching the semi final at this year's event.

So far Nalbandian has faced seven break points on serve against Tommy Robredo, and eleven versus Mikhail Youzhny. Although Nalbandian's ball striking is back to the levels seen pre-operation, he still looks a little sluggish and at times disinterested on court. There are always going to be doubts over Nalbandian's fitness and with three matches already played (including an epic that lasted just short of three hours against Mikhail Youzhny) there will be concerns over his fitness coming into this quarter final showdown with Novak Djokovic.

The head-to head series between these two reads 2-1 in Djokovic's favour. However, the last match they played was in June 2008 on grass in which Novak won 6-1 6-0. This will be their first meeting together on the clay. Nalbandian, the more established clay-courter of the two is 7-3 on the dirt and Djokovic 8-2. The Argentine is currently 4-6 against top 10 ranked players, losing his last four. Novak has won five in a row when priced as favourite.

This match could go to all the way; however given that Nalbandian isn't 100% fit and Novak is in good physical shape, I don't believe the Argentine will be able to withstand another gruelling clay court encounter.

Selection:

Back Novak Djokovic @ [1.53] to win match
Back Djokovic -2.5 Games @ [1.8]

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