David nalbandian

David Nalbandian (Unquillo, January 1, 1982) is an Argentine professional tennis player who currently works as a rally driver.

He reached 3rd place in the ATP ranking in March 2006, after having won the 2005 Masters Tournament against Roger Federer, in November of that year. He reached the semifinals of all the Grand Slams on the circuit, as well as being the only Argentine finalist at Wimbledon, in the 2002 edition, losing the match against Australian Lleyton Hewitt. He also won the 2007 Paris Masters and the 2007 Madrid Masters defeating the top two ranked players at the time, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in both competitions. He finished in the Top 10 of the ranking for five consecutive seasons, from 2003 to 2007, which added to many other achievements make him one of the most important Argentine tennis players in history along with Guillermo Vilas, José Luis Clerc, Gaston Gaudio, Juan Martin Del Potro and Guillermo Coria.

On October 1, 2013, at 31 years and 9 months old, he announced his retirement from professional tennis at a press conference. His last match was against Rafael Nadal in an exhibition match at La Rural. In 2016 he was selected by the ATP as one of the best tennis players in history who did not win a Grand Slam title.

Biography

David Nalbandian was born in Unquillo, Córdoba, Argentina, on January 1, 1982. From a very young age, David expressed his passion for sports and adventure, always running after his brothers. His hours were spent playing soccer, tennis, basketball, practicing karate, horse riding, swimming. And also going to the mountains to enjoy the adrenaline while watching the rally cars go by. His passion for tennis began on a court in the town of Río Ceballos, near Unquillo. There, his uncles who encouraged Javier and Darío to practice this sport, David's older brothers, who at that time ran behind them and tried to imitate them, played. One day they gave him a racket and he didn't let go of it anymore. At the age of 12, David Nalbandian was already a great promise and led the Argentine ranking in his category.

In his career on the Junior circuit, David had outstanding performances and positioned himself as one of the promises of world tennis. He was world champion in Japan at the age of 14 and won the US Open in 1998, after defeating Roger Federer in the final. In 1999 he reached the semifinal of Roland Garros, which he lost to his compatriot Guillermo Coria. All these achievements would not have been possible without the unconditional support of his family, since both his parents, brothers and even his friends worked hard to financially afford the expenses of participating in these tournaments.

The talent and potential that he insinuated on the courts made the greatest Argentine tennis player in history, Guillermo Vilas, notice him and invite him to a school he was developing at the time.

In April 2009, after some poor results, David feels a hip injury; the cartilage that would leave him off the courts until the end of the year. He failed to recover for the 2010 Australian Open. Prior to his injury, he had won the Peugeot Cup for the third time. He was expected to return for the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, but he preferred not to play it because he still wasn't feeling well. He permanently maintained that his objective was to obtain the Davis Cup.

Other aspects

David Nalbandian at the Casa Rosada.

He is a lover of extreme sports, especially rally, being an excellent driver of this type of car. In September 2007, together with his friend, the pilot Marcos Ligato, he presented a team called Tango Rally Team with which he currently competes in the national championship of this specialty, having its headquarters in the Argentine province of Córdoba. He debuted in this discipline in 2013 in the N4 division, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX and in 2016 he was promoted to the Maxi Rally division where he competed in command of a Chevrolet Agile. Developing this discipline, Nalbandián won the Maxi Rally Cup in 2016, intended for drivers with a low background in said division.

His most notable activities include swimming with sharks in Melbourne, Australia in 2002 and bungee jumping in Vienna on October 13, 2004 from the 152 meter high Danube Tower.

In 2005 he was awarded the Olimpia de Oro for the best Argentine athlete of the year, awarded by the Circle of Argentine Journalists, after his conquest in the Masters Tournament.

In 2006 he was distinguished with the Consecration of Gold award, granted by the Clarín newspaper, and he won again in 2007.

In 2010 the Konex Foundation awarded him the Konex Platinum Award for the best tennis player of the decade in Argentina.

In 2013, he received the TALENTO Award from Talento Sports, which ranks him as one of the great Cordovan athletes in history and which grants him a place in the Cordovan Sports Hall of Fame.

David has a foundation named after him, the "David Nalbandian Foundation", which is a non-profit organization that aims to create favorable conditions for the development of people with disabilities in health and the sport.

ATP career

2000-2002

He turned pro in 2000, making his tour debut with a loss to former No. 1 Jim Courier. In 2001 he reached his first ATP tournament final in Palermo but was defeated by the Spaniard Félix Mantilla. He finished the year at No. 50 in the ATP rankings for the first time. In 2002, he won his first two ATP titles in Basel and Estoril, and also reached the Wimbledon final at just 20 years old, losing to Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3, 6-2. Thanks to these results, Nalbandian entered the top 20 in the ranking, and ended the year as No. 1 in Argentina and Latin America.

2003-2004

In 2003, Nalbandian was unable to achieve what he had achieved the previous year, as he was knocked out of Wimbledon in the fourth round against Tim Henman. He reached the final of his first master series at Montreal TMS, but was defeated by Andy Roddick. A month later they would meet in the semifinals of the US Open, with another victory for Roddick, and in Basel he would reach the final, but he would not appear due to physical discomfort. He finished the year ranked No. 8.

In 2004, he reached the semifinals of the Roland Garros, but lost to his compatriot Gastón Gaudio, who would ultimately win the tournament. He was also runner-up in the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters and reached the final of the Basel Tournament for the third time in a row. He finished the year ranked in the top 10 of the ATP rankings.

2005

In 2005, Nalbandian reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, winning his third career title in Munich after nearly two years without winning a final. His most important achievement that year, and in his career, was winning the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China. Despite not having been classified to participate in that tournament, a loss of one of the participants, Andy Roddick, enabled David to compete. In the tournament he won two of his three group matches. He defeated Ivan Ljubicic and Guillermo Coria, and lost to Roger Federer. In the semifinals he defeated Russian Nikolai Davydenko and in the final he defeated No. 1 Roger Federer in five sets.

Nalbandian is the second Argentine to win the tournament after Guillermo Vilas won it in 1974.

2006

In January 2006, Nalbandian reached the semifinals of the Australian Open by defeating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro becoming one of four active tennis players to reach the semifinals of all four Grand Slams. In the semifinal, he would fall to the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis after winning two sets to zero. May won the ATP in Estoril for the second time, being the third tennis player to do so after Carlos Costa (1992 and 1994) and Thomas Muster (1995 and 1996). On the other hand, at Roland Garros he reached the semifinals for the second time and it was also the first time he reached two Grand Slam semifinals in the same year, finally being defeated by Roger Federer. At Wimbledon he lost in the third round to Fernando Verdasco and at the US Open he lost in the second round to former champion Marat Safin.

Nalbandian was part of the Davis group that won the semifinals in Buenos Aires against Australia. On that occasion he beat Mark Philippoussis for the first point 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Argentina won 5-0. Then he reached the semifinals of the Madrid Masters and the Masters Cup where he was defeated by James Blake. In the final of the Davis Cup series, Argentina faced Russia as a visitor and Nalbandian won his two singles matches and lost the doubles. This did not mean an advantage to Argentina, they lost the final 3-2.

2007

In the first months of 2007, Nalbandian would fall out of the top 20 ranking of tennis players due to physical complications (abdominal, back and leg injuries). He placed 26th but his season changed in October when he returned and won his first career Masters at the Madrid Masters on hard surface. In this competition he won the top three in the ATP ranking: Novak Djokovic No. 3, Rafael Nadal No. 2 and Roger Federer No. 1. He also reached the semifinals in doubles in the same tournament with his compatriot Guillermo Cañas where they lost to the Bryan brothers.

Nalbandian rose from No. 26 to No. 18 in the rankings. In Basel he lost the first round to Stanislas Wawrinka and the following week he won his second Masters in his career, the Paris Masters, defeating Rafael Nadal in the final, previously winning against Roger Federer in the fourth round. This victory allowed him to rise to No. 9 in the ranking, so he could officially go to Shanghai and participate as a substitute in the Master Cup, but he decided not to go, thus closing that year's season.

2008

Nalbandian at the Masters of Paris.

Nalbandian started the 2008 season in the top ten in the world. At the Australian Open he reached the third round by losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. On February 24, 2008, Nalbandian won the Telmex Cup in his homeland Argentina, defeating his compatriot José Acasuso 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. With this victory David rose to the No. 8 position in the ranking. A week later he reached his second consecutive final at the Acapulco Tournament after triumphing against Boris Pasanski, Santiago Ventura, Potito Starace and Luis Horna, losing to Spaniard Nicolás Almagro 1-6, 6-7.h

In the first master series of the season in Indian Wells his rival in the first round did not show up so he automatically goes to the next round, in the second and third round he defeats Ernests Gulbis 6–4, 4–6, 7 –6(4) and Radek Stepanek 7–6(1), 0–6, 7–6(6), in the fourth round he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero and in the quarterfinals he lost to Mardy Fish 3–6, 7–6 (5), 6–7(4). In the Monte Carlo and Rome masters, he lost in the initial instances against Roger Federer and Nicolás Almagro.

At Roland Garros, he lost in the second round to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. He was also defeated in the following Grand Slam tournaments, at Wimbledon and the US Open, in the second and third round respectively. However, he won his ninth career title at the Stockholm ATP by beating Sweden's Robin Söderling 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. He participated in the Madrid Masters as champion of the previous year, losing to his compatriot Juan Martín del Potro in the third round. He also participated in the Basel Open and the last Masters of the season in Paris, reaching the final of both, but was defeated by Roger Federer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga.

2009

Nalbandian began his 2009 season by winning his tenth title in Sydney, Australia. He was seeking to be the first Argentine to win that tournament after Vilas y Chela failed in 1979 and 2002 after defeating the late 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 but the Taiwanese Lu Yen-Hsun beat him in the second round 4-6, 7-5, 6 –4, 4–6, 2–6.

At the Indian Wells Masters Series, Nalbandian loses in the fourth round to No. 1 Rafael Nadal for the first time in three sets 6–3, 6–7(5), 0–6.

In May he announced that due to hip surgery he would not appear in the following tournaments on the ATP circuit and the Davis Cup series of the 2009 season.

2010

Nalbandian again played an official match in the first round of the ATP in Buenos Aires against Potito Staracce. However, in his second appearance against Gimeno Traver suffered a torn adductor muscle that did not interfere with his victory in the match but led to his withdrawal from the tournament. His return was scheduled to take part in the Indian Wells Master 1000, but Nalbandian made a surprise trip to Stockholm one day before the start of the series between Sweden and Argentina for the first round of the Davis Cup, where the man from Unquillo was indispensable by defeating in the doubles with Horacio Zeballos in straight sets against Robert Lindstedt and Robin Söderling but also by defeating the Swedish Andreas Vinciguerra in four sets in the fifth and last point of the series.

Later, he played the Monte Carlo Master 1000 tournament, ranked No. 151 in the world ranking, reaching the fourth round where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic 6–2, 6–3. A series of injuries to his right leg prevented him from continuing in the 1000 master in Rome and on his way to the circuit returning in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup against Russia in Moscow, there he defeated in the first point of the series in sets straight to world number 6 Nikolai Davydenko and in the last point to number 14 Mikhail Yuzhny leading Argentina to the semifinals against France.

After almost four months of absence from the ATP circuit, and ranked 117th, Nalbandian received a wild card for the ATP 500 in Washington D.C., where he made his debut against the American Rajeev Ram, whom he defeated 6-4 and 6-0. In the second round, he had to face the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, seventh seed, whom he beat 6-1 and 6-3; advancing to the third round, where he overwhelmed fellow Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-1, 6-0. In the quarterfinals, Nalbandian defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3 in almost two hours of play and advanced to the semifinals, where he beat the Croatian Marin Cilic, fourth seed, by a double 6-2; With this victory, the Unquillense once again reached an ATP final after a year and a half. In the final, which took place on August 8, Nalbandian became champion after defeating the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, eighth seed, by 6 -2 and 7-6⁴. By winning the title, Nalbandian became the first player outside the top 100 to win an ATP trophy this season; furthermore, the 500 points earned allowed him to catapult from position 117 to 45.

Nalbandian reached the third round of the United States Open, being defeated by Fernando Verdasco.

The following week, Nalbandian defeated the Spanish David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Canadian Masters 1000, which was held that year in Toronto; In the second round, the Unquillense had to face Tommy Robredo, also Spanish, whom he beat 6-3, 6-0. Said victory allowed him to advance to the third round, where he defeated the Swedish Robin Söderling 4-6, 6-4 and 6-1; however, he lost in the quarterfinals against Scotsman Andy Murray by a double 2-6. Despite the defeat, Nalbandian was able to break his personal record after achieving eleven consecutive victories (two in the Davis Cup, six in Washington and three in Toronto); in addition, he added 180 points for the ranking, which placed him in 37th place.

In mid-August, Nalbandian defeated Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-0 in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000; In the second round, he had to face John Isner, whom he defeated 4-5 and the American retired due to a sprained right ankle. With this victory, the Cordovan advanced to the third round, where he lost to the Serbian Novak Djokovic, second seed, 1-6 and 6⁷-7. Despite his elimination, Nalbandian managed to be seeded for the United States Open, thanks to the loss of Richard Gasquet in the first round in Cincinnati; in addition, he added 90 points for the ranking, ranking 33rd. On August 31, he made his debut at the US Open, defeating the South African Rik de Voest 7-6⁴, 3-6, 6-4, 6⁶-7 and 6-4 in the first round; in the second, he beat Frenchman Florent Serra 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. He played his third-round match on September 5, in which he was defeated by eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6 and 2-6; despite the defeat, the 90 points added allowed him to enter the top 30, ranking 28th.

At the end of September, Nalbandian decided not to participate in the Asian tour, which includes the ATP 500 in Tokyo and the Masters 1000 in Shanghai; Citing physical fatigue after the North American tour (Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati), the Cordovan returned to Argentina to recover and train with a view to the European tour indoors. Initially, he assured that he would rejoin the circuit on October 18 at the ATP 250 in Stockholm, Sweden, although he finally gave up doing so. In the last week of October, Nalbandian (31st) received an invitation to participate in the Open Sud de France, which was held in Montpellier, France. Starting as the eighth seed, he defeated Marcel Granollers in the first round 6-4, 6-4; however, Gilles Simon defeated him 6-3, 6⁵7, 5-7 in the second round, eliminating him from the tournament.

On November 2, Nalbandian (29th) made his debut in the first round of the Davidoff Swiss Indors in Basel, Switzerland, against the Czech Jan Hajek, whom he defeated 6-3, 6-4; this victory allowed him access to the second round of the tournament, where he beat Croatian Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Nalbandian lost to Andy Roddick 6-4 and 6-4. The following week, ranked 25th thanks to the 90 points scored in Basel, he began his participation in the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, where he faced, again in the first round, Marcel Granollers, whom he defeated by 6 -3 and 6-1. His victory allowed him to advance to the second round, where he played against Andy Murray, the third seed, who beat him 2-6, 6-4 and 6-3; in this way, the Unquillense closed his participation in official tournaments of the circuit.

In December, Nalbandian participated in the Almirante Brown Cup, the Argentine Cup and the Summer Cup, three exhibition tournaments, which were held in Burzaco, Buenos Aires and Punta del Este, respectively. On December 11, at Club San Albano, Nalbandian faced Horacio Zeballos, whom he defeated 7-6 ⁴ and 6-1; In this way, he advanced to the final of the tournament, where he faced Juan Mónaco, who had defeated Eduardo Schwank in three sets, and whom he defeated 6-0 and 7-6⁵ a day following. In the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, Nalbandian was part of group 2, for which he had to face his compatriot Juan Ignacio Chela and the Russian Marat Safin; On December 16, Nalbandian defeated Chela 7-6⁴ and 6-4 and, two days later, he defeated Safin 6-4 and 7-5. Both victories allowed him to qualify for the final of the tournament, where he again faced Monaco, who had defeated the Americans Mardy Fish and James Blake, and whom he beat 6-3 and 7-6⁵, winning the title for the fourth time in his career. Days later, at the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este, Nalbandian once again prevailed against Safin 6-2, 7-5, which allowed him access to the final of the Summer Cup, where he faced the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, whom he defeated 7-6, 7-6.

Davis Cup: Sweden, Russia and France

On July 3, the players and the coaching staff traveled from various parts of the world to Moscow, with the aim of starting preparations for the quarterfinal series against Russia. Five days later the draw was made, which determined that Nalbandian, second single player, would face Nikolai Davydenko in the first turn and that Leonardo Mayer, in second, would play against Mikhail Yuzhny. On July 9, at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Nalbandian defeated his rival by 6 -4, 7-6⁵ and 7-6⁶ in almost three hours of play; however, Mayer lost in the second game against Youzhny 6-3, 6-1 and 6-4 and the series was tied at one. The next morning the doubles was played, which pitted the Davydenko - Igor Kunitsyn duo against Horacio Zeballos and Eduardo Schwank, whose participation in the match was in doubt given the possibility that Nalbandian would play all three days, an option that was later ruled out; in a difficult match, the Argentine duo prevailed 7-6⁷, 6-4, 6³ -7 and 6-1, leaving the series 2 - 1 in favor of his country. On Sunday the first single was played, in which Davydenko evened the series after beating Schwank 4-6, 6- 4, 6-1 and 6-4; however, Nalbandian gave victory to Argentina after beating Youzhny 7-6⁵, 6-4 and 6-3. In this way, Russia lost an undefeated 15-year home game and Argentina qualified, for the sixth time in eight years, to the semifinals, where this time they faced France.

After the US Open, Nalbandian traveled to Paris to face France in the Davis Cup semifinals; however, he lost to Gaël Monfils and the French national team won 5-0.

2011

At the start of the year, David Nalbandian was ranked 27th in the ATP rankings; For this season, he set himself the goal of being top-ten again, for which he assured that if health is with me, I'll be fighting up there . Nalbandian began his season at the Heineken Open, which was held in the New Zealand city of Auckland. Starting as the sixth seed, he reached the final of the tournament after beating Fabio Fognini (7-6³ and 6- 4), Philipp Petzschner (6-3 and 6-2), John Isner (6-4 and 7-6³) and Nicolás Almagro (6-4 and 6-2), without giving up any set; however, he lost to top-seeded David Ferrer 3-6 2-6 in the final. The second place achieved allowed him to add 150 points for the ATP ranking, thanks to which he was ranked number 21, once again becoming the first Argentine classified.

After the final in Auckland, Nalbandian moved to Melbourne to play the Australian Open, where the draw ruled that he had to face local Lleyton Hewitt, former number 1 in the world; Said match was baptized as a clash of titans (from English, clash of titans ), due to the background between the two. The match, which was played at the Rod Laver Arena and lasted 4 hours and 47 minutes, ending with partial scores of 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6¹ and 9-7 in favor of Nalbandian, who saved two match points and was affected by some cramps; the match has been considered by some journalists to be a reenactment of the 2005 quarter-final match, in which Hewitt he prevailed against Nalbandian in five sets, in a very close match. In the second round, Nalbandian faced the Lithuanian Richard Berankis, who defeated him in less than an hour of play 1-6, 0-6, 0- 2 and withdrew due to exhaustion and exhaustion generated in the match against Hewitt. In the press conference, Nalbandian commented that he was totally empty and that he ran out of energy, also saying that he felt dizzy when shooting the ball to serve and that he suffered a very general fatigue, without any relation to his hip injury. of recovery. For his part, the Swiss Roger Federer, number two in the world, justified the abandonment of Nalbandian, saying that he never really had time to rest and adapt since he had also played the week before; furthermore, he said that he had almost the toughest draw you could have getting Lleyton [Hewitt] touching him here and that the intensity you get from Lleyton, from the spectators, the pressure and all of that combined can lead to a result like this.

After the Australian Open, Nalbandian (21st) moved to Chile to participate in the ATP 250 in Santiago, a tournament to which he returned after a nine-year absence, which kicks off the Latin American tour of brick dust. Starting as the first seed, he will meet in the first round with his compatriot Carlos Berlocq, who participated in the ATP in Buenos Aires losing against Tommy Robredo. Nalbandian played the Davis Cup series against Romania, where he won his match against Adrian Ungur. Nalbandian had a sports hernia and did not play until the AEGON Championships in June where he beat Marchenko by a double 6-4, and in second he beat world number 200 Ilija Bozoljac, 6-4 6-4. In the third round he faced Fernando Verdasco, to whom he lost 7-5 6-1.

2012

At the 2012 AUS Open he controversially lost to American John Isner due to a hawk eye that was not awarded to the Unquillense. In February at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires at the Lawn Tennis club he beats Wayne Odesnik 6-2 6-3 in the 1st round, in the 2nd round Juan Mónaco 6-3 6-1 and Carlos Berlocq in quarterfinals to whom he beats by a categorical 6-0 6-3 and loses in the semifinals against the Spanish David Ferrer at that time 5th in the world.

During the Queen's ATP 250 final, when playing Marin Cilic, he reacted to a missed point by kicking a billboard, which struck the linesman behind the billboard, causing pain and bleeding. The act led to his disqualification, losing the tournament; after the painful event he protested the measure on the same playing field.

In Wimbledon it was the debut and defeat for the Cordovan, losing the match against the Serbian Janko Tipsarevic with a score in straight sets (6-4, 7-6 and 6-2).

In the Toronto masters, Nalbandian lost in the first round against the German Tommy Haas, in a very tough match of 2 hours and 22 minutes, whose score ended in 6-2, 6-7 and 6-3.

In the Cincinnati masters, he lost again to Haas in the first round, losing to the German 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-4) and 6-3, in a match lasting 3 hours and 22 minutes. This caused it to be the first time in 10 years that the Cordoba lose four consecutive tournaments in the first round.

London 2012

In the Olympic Games, the Argentine tennis player had little to give: in the first round of singles, he was defeated by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who won 6-3, 6- 4. Later he would play in men's doubles with Eduardo Schwank, a match that he would lose 6-3 and 7-5, against the French Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

2013

He did not compete in the Australian Open to prioritize his preparation for the Davis Cup series against Germany, in which the Argentine team won. His first tournament of 2013 was in São Paulo, where he climbed to the final defeating the likes of Jorge Aguilar, Guido Pella, Nicolás Almagro and Simone Bolelli. In the final he was defeated 2-6 3-6 by Rafael Nadal.

Then he participated in the 2013 Claro Cup, where in the first round he defeated his compatriot Carlos Berlocq 6-3 2-6 6-3. In the second round, Nalbandian played a high-level match against David Ferrer, the latter being the winner of the match in three sets. Nalbandian continued his Latin American tour on clay in Acapulco, being eliminated in the first instance against the Slovenian Aljaz Bedene by 6-4 0-6 6-4.

Then he made his debut in the first Masters 1000 of the 2013 season. It was in the Indian Wells Masters 1000, where he defeated Marcel Granollers 6-4 6-2 in the first round. In the second round he lost to Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (4), 6-4, 3-6. This loss moved Nalbandian from 93rd to 124th in the ATP rankings.

In the Miami Masters 1000 he lost in the first round against Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 4-6, 3-6.

In the Davis Cup quarterfinals, Nalbandian played the doubles with Horacio Zeballos, defeating the French duo made up of Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau in a marathon match by a score of 3-6 7-6(3) 7- 5 6-3.

On November 23, at La Rural, he played his farewell match with Rafael Nadal, losing 6-3, 6-4, in 1 hour and 31 minutes of play. Later, he paired up with & # 34; Pico & # 34; Monaco and faced Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in a doubles match.

Historical classification

Grand Slam	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	G-P	Titles
Australian Open	-	2R	2R	-	2R	3R	4R	SF	CF	CF	CF	2R	-	-	26-10	0
Roland Garros	-	1R	-	-	-	2R	4R	SF	4R	SF	2R	3R	-	-	20-8	0
Wimbledon	-	1R	3R	-	-	1R	3R	3R	CF	-	4R	F	-	-	19-8	0
US Open	-	-	3R	3R	-	3R	3R	2R	CF	2R	SF	1R	3R	-	21-10	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	86-36	0
ATP World Tour Finals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	SF	G	-	RR	-	-	-	6-6	1
Masters 1000	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	G-P	Titles
Indian Wells	R64	CF	-	R64	R16	CF	R16	R16	R16	-	R64	R32	-	-	17-9	0
Miami	R96	R64	-	R32	R64	R64	R32	SF	R32	-	R32	R96	R96	R96	9-10	0
Monte Carlo	-	-	-	CF	R16	CF	R32	R16	-	CF	R32	R16	-	-	16-8	0
Rome	-	R32	-	-	-	R32	-	SF	R64	F	R64	R32	-	-	10-6	0
Madrid	-	R64	-	-	-	R16	G	SF	SF	F	-	R16	-	-	19-5	1
Canada		R64	R64	CF	-	-	R16	R64	R32	R64	F	CF	-	-	14-8	0
Cincinnati		R64	R32	R16	-	-	R64	R32	R32	-	CF	R64	-	-	8-7	0
Shanghai		-	R32	-	-	No TM1000									1-1	0
Paris		-	-	R32	-	F	G	-	R32	-	-	R32	-	-	12-4	1
Hamburg	No TM1000					-	-	-	R64	R64	SF	R64	-	-	4-4	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	113-69	2
Ranking	228	81	64	27	65	11	9	8	6	9	8	12	47	248

History and records

• He beat the top three of the ranking in the same week, something that only two players had achieved in history (Boris Becker, in Stockholm in 1994, and Novak Djokovic, in the Masters of Canada in 2007). It is imposed in front of Rafael Nadal No. 2 in quarters of final for 6-1 6-2, it beats Novak Djokovic No. 3 for 6-4 7-6(4) in the semifinal, and it is crowned in front of Roger Federer No. 1 in the world at the end for 1-6 6-3 and 6-3 in the Masters of Madrid.
• First player that is imposed on two occasions and in two consecutive tournaments to the first two of the world rankings. In the Masters of Madrid he wins the N.o 2 Rafael Nadal in quarters of final for 6-1 and 6-2 and in the end to the N.o 1 Roger Federer for 1-6 6-3 and 6-3. One week the ATP tournament in Basel and the following week at the ParisTMS beats Roger Federer in the final eighths for 6-4 and 7-6 and at the end Rafael Nadal for 6-4 and 6-0.
• First - and to date, only- Argentine masculine tennis player to reach the end of the Wimbledon Championship, the only Grand Slam that has not been won by any Argentine tennis player.
• First Argentine tennis player to win the Stockholm and Sydney tournaments.
• Second Argentine tennis player winner of the Tennis Masters Cup after Guillermo Vilas who won it in 1974.
• Second tennis player in the world to win the European tour of Madrid and Paris of the last season of ATP Master Series (Mutua Madrileña and BMP Paribas Master) of 2007, after Marat Safin got it in 2004.
• Before his retirement, he was one of the five active tennis players who had reached the semifinals of the four Grand Slam tournaments along with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
• First Latin American tennis player to reach Semifinles in the 4 Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open (SF:2006), Roland Garros (SF:2004 and 2006), Wimbledon (F:2002) and US Open (SF:2003).
• Eight victories to Roger Federer (Five in ATP's history after Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Hewitt), two to Nadal, two to Murray and one to Djokovic.

Motoring stage

Although Nalbandián began his racing career three months after his retirement as a tennis player, his identification with the world of motor sport was always evident. His first contact with the discipline was not specifically as a pilot, but as a founding partner of the Tango Competición motorsport squad, which he would found in partnership with the rally driver Marcos Ligato in 2006, but from which he would end up separating. in 2009, to continue his tennis career.

However, after announcing his retirement as a tennis player on October 1, 2013, three months later he would surprise by announcing his landing in the Argentine Rally, as a driver. As it could not be otherwise, his arrival was facilitated by his former partner Marcos Ligato, who would have prepared a Chevrolet Agile from the Maxi Rally division for his debut, with which he would debut at the Villa Carlos Paz Rally, the first date of the 2014 calendar of the Argentine Rally, beginning his career as a motorist. In his first contacts with this class of vehicles, Nalbandián would show a rapid adaptation, marking a vertiginous rise in the specialty, to the point of culminating in fourth place in the fight for the Maxi Rally Cup. In 2015, he was reconfirmed in the Tango Rally Team driver squad, being accompanied by Daniel Stillo as navigator.