Tennis Prose




Aug/10

8

David Nalbandian, the philosopher…

When David Nalbandian speaks, his words can be as captivating as his tennis. This is what the Argentine tennis master stated during a panel interview on ESPN2 with Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill and Patrick McEnroe, after his stunning domination of Marin Cilic in the Washington semifinal…

Nalbandian says he is most motivated by Davis Cup: “Very good players like Vilas, Clerc have won everything (in tennis) except the Davis Cup. So I want to win the Davis Cup.”

He says he prefers the challenge of Davis Cup over grand slams: “It’s a different pressure than the grand slams. I play better in that than everybody else.”

On why Nadal and Federer stand above the rest in the ATP: “I think they are a step over the rest – for the moment. They are completely different players from the mind. Not the game.. The difference is in the mind. From the mind, they are different from the rest.”

Nalbandian on what Federer might need to regain his #1 position: “Roger – maybe he needs motivation from somewhere else.”

On his Davis Cup teammate Juan Martin Del Potro and the Davis Cup semifinal vs. France in September: “If he’s ready to play, he can do the good tennis. Because he’s a good player. We have a good team.”

Nalbandian also stated that his near-two year absense from competitive tennis helped him realize how much he missed the “adrenaline” of competition and that he hoped to compete at the best level for three or four more years.

6 comments

  • Dan Markowitz · August 8, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    Thanks, Scoop. Nalbandian is intriguing to me. He does compete at a high level and I like his game. I didn’t see his match against Cilic, but to beat the big Croat 2 and 2 is impressive.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2010 at 12:18 am

    It was REALLY impressive. He is just assualting winners off both sides, pulverizing the ball. He is close to the form that has annihilated Federer and Nadal. Did you catch Nalbandian saying that he thinks he is the best Davis Cup combatant on the planet? I liked that confidence. He really is the ultimate Davis Cup warrior. Look at his DC record, he smoked Hewitt on grass in Australia. So many huge wins. Nalbandian is definitely one of those fascinating characters that make tennis such a fantastic sport to observe. I should post his Biofile this week.

  • vinko · August 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

    This may be a sore point with him but I’d like to know how he let that US Open match with Andy Roddick get away from him back in 03.

  • Andrew Miller · August 9, 2010 at 4:29 am

    Good question about the ’03 match! If Nalbandian had not played so many consecutive matches at the 2003 US Open, we might now be talking about Nalbandian’s inability to win his 2nd slam! All of that said, Roddick has simply put himself in position to win more slams (despite not winning another one) than Nalbandian. Too much partying for Nalbandian, and I think also his family was threatened in 2003? Kind of like Chakvetadze.

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/open/2003-09-06-day13_x.htm

  • Dobey · August 10, 2010 at 4:21 am

    What would be interesting is how Nalbandian feels about the fact that DelPotro is the top guy from Argentina now. Although injured, DelPo has already handily defeated Nadal (a rout really) and won a solid win over Federer. The way DelPotro could simply out hit Federer leaves little prospect of Federer ever again dominating DelPotro. And Rafa’s great weapon, that backhand that take a sudden high bounce and forces Federer to hit backhands from his shoulder, is uselss against a 6′ 7″ tall guy like DelPotro. Once healthy, DelPo will immediately be the top dog from Argentina and Nalbandian will be numro dos again. You have to wonder how Nalbandian feels about that. Not directly related but interesting nonetheless. Clerc would win many of his Davis Cup matches against McEnroe. Yet on the regular circuit, he did not have a great record. The question is why not? Clerc certainly had boatloads of tennis talent.

  • Andrew Miller · August 10, 2010 at 4:24 am

    Maybe Nalbandian is working so hard like the post above suggests, because there is no del potro right now. Nalbandian senses he’s it! He wins DC, which Del Potro is two time defending champ; he wins Davis Cup matches, showing he’s aiming for Argentina’s first victory and to be the “man” in Argentine davis cup. Maybe he feels:

    “Now or never.”

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