Nalbandian Dissapoints in the US Open, Davis Cup

By HAKOP ALAJAJYAN
Haladzha@uci.edu


Argentinean-Armenian tennis star David Nalbandian survived a scare in his opening round match against South African Rik de Voest at the 2010 US Open. After being up two sets to one, the Armenian lost a 4th set match-point tiebreak to Voest and the score was even at 2 sets a-piece. However, things were not going well for the world’s 31st ranked player as the underdog de Voest took a commanding 2-0 lead in the final set.
However, Nalbandian showed courageous spirit, as well as a little help from the crowd which was predominantly Argentinean, and came back to win the final set 6-4, and thematch 3-2.

In his following match in the second round, Nalbandian showed off his world- class backhand by defeating Frenchman Florent Serra in straight sets. Nalbandian played very patiently and used his backhand to place shots and compiled 46 winners, compared to his opponent’s 18.

However, Nalbandian’s run came to an end when he faced off against Spaniard Frenando Verdasco (8). Despite losing the first set, Nalbandian showed great resiliency winning the second set 6-3. However, in the third set, Nalbandian lost a break point and his concentration, allowing Verdasco to make easy work of him. Nalbandian’s efforts proved fruitless and Verdasco elminated him in the 4th set with a 6-2 victory.
Nalbandian’s string of bad luck only continued when he lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils 3-1 in the Davis Cup World Group match between Argentina and France.
Argentina was subsequently swept by France 5 games to 0 and thereby eliminated from this year’s Davis Cup.

Despite his early exit, Nalbandian’s play has greatly improved compared to the form he was in two years ago. Likewise, Nalbandian has had some big wins in non- Grand Slam ATP tournaments after coming off hip surgery and will surely look even stronger once he is back at 100% fitness.